President Nana Akufo-Addo has charged his appointees and members of the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) to help him fight the galamsey menace.
He believes only a committed fight against the canker will help the party “break the 8.”
President Akufo-Addo has therefore asked them to embrace government’s tough measures against it.
According to him, this will help Ghanaians repose confidence in the party.
“Let us work together to get rid of this menace. I believe that if the people of Ghana see a determined effort on our part, which yields results, our water bodies are clearing, our lands are being reclaimed, and our forest zones are being preserved, it will help them enable us to break the eight”, he stressed on Wednesday, at an engagement with the Metropolitan, Municipal and District Chief Executives (MMDCEs).
President Akufo Addo also vowed to deal with persons within his government who may be found complicit in illegal mining activities.
He warned that he will not shield any member of his government found to be involved.
“I am not here to threaten anybody, but I want you to know that this is a struggle that I take very seriously and I will not be in a position to protect anybody against who evidence is massed up about their complicity in this matter…I am a lawyer and I always deal with facts and when the facts are brought against you, you will be invited to comment on them.
“If the response is not satisfactory, you can guess to yourself what the consequences will be,” the President said.
He also admitted that Ghana’s fight against illegal mining has so far not been successful.
“Since I took office on 7th January 2017, nearly six years ago, I have made it the central feature of my presidency to lead in the efforts to rid our country of this menace which we all now call ‘galamsey’.
