Galamsey: What Do You Stand For; Akufo-Addo Asks Mahama

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has called out the 2024 Presidential Candidate of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) over his unclear stance on illegal mining popularly known as galamsey in the country.

He observes that John Dramani Mahama has maintained an enigmatic stance on the menace over the years.

“Today he says he doesn’t believe in jailing, that he is against galamsey and he will enforce the law. So once again we ask ourselves, Mr JM, where do you stand? What are you telling the people of Ghana because anytime you speak, you speak from one corner of your mouth and then another corner of your mouth.”

In an engagement with chiefs in the North East Region as part of his Thank You tour across the country on October 15, President Akufo-Addo urged the former President to take the bold step of coming clean just as his party’s Presidential candidate has done.

“Let us hear from you directly, straight up. What do you stand for? We need to know. The NPP Presidential candidate has gone on record to say that as far as he is prepared to sign a pact that will take Galamsey issue out of our politics, to depoliticise it and to commit our party to deal with this phenomena on a non-partisan basis. We are yet to hear from the NDC candidate. I’m asking him to also come out and support the idea of a political pact on galamsey.”

He indicated that the NPP’s opposition to galamsey cost them votes in mining districts of the country during the last elections.

“In the last election, in the NPP did very badly largely because the NDC Presidential candidate and the party had gone around the mining areas and saying that the policy I was trying to implement to stop Galamsey would be reversed when he came to power and that those who were already in jail for Galamsey offences would be amnestied.

“When I said was putting my presidency on the line that was what I meant. That I was prepared to take the political risk involved in dealing with this galamsey phenomenon. The result was that the mining districts including nearly even Tarkwa were lost to the NDC. That is what I meant when I said I was putting my presidency on the line. That I was prepared to take the political risk involved in coming to grips with this problem.”

Source: opemsuo.com/Hajara Fuseini