Demo: Mahama Lacks Political Will to End Galamsey- Okatakyie Afrifa

Broadcast journalist Okatakyie Afrifa Mensah says President John Dramani Mahama lacks the political will to end illegal mining also known as galamsey.

According to him, this is evident in the activities of the President prioritized since assuming office four months ago.

“Within four months he’s been able to send a bill to Parliament to establish GoldBod. When President Mahama came in within four months he was able to do things that were to his benefit and the benefit of his government so it’s all about the scale of preference. It’s all about priority.”

Addressing the media at the Galamsey Must Fall Demonstration on the second day, he said the government had exhibited that he holds no interest in eliminating the menace.

He stated that President Mhama had reneged on all the campaign promises to declare a state of emergency and repeal the Legislative Instrument that mandates mining in forest reserves.

“All the things the government is doing by lying about the repeal of LI 2462, by lying about ending galamsey, by lying about a State of emergency, clearly, it shows that the government lacks the political will to do what they said they will do when they were in opposition. We the citizenry do not have the luxury of time to be able to wait for them to use ten or twenty years to deal with the issue. It does not take one year to use an executive order to declare a state of emergency.”

He also used the occasion to respond to persons who thought his demonstration was premature.

“We need to prompt him from the early stage…there is a saying that a better Sunday depends on Saturday eve.”

Source: opemsuo.com/Hajara Fuseini