Party politics influences fight against galamsey – Nana Akomea | General News

Former Information Minister Nana Akomea said party politics were partly responsible for the failure of the fight against illegal mining (popularly known as galamsey).

According to the former Member of Parliament for Okaikwei South from 1997 to 2009, politicians openly tolerate the activities of illegal miners in order to achieve electoral results, making the fight against this menace extremely difficult.

Speaking on Peace FM monitored by GhanaWeb, Nana Akomea, the executive director of the Inter-City STC, on Tuesday quoted former President John Mahama, who had publicly promised during the 2020 election campaign to ensure the release of arrested illegal miners if he was elected president.

“Party politics negatively impacts the things we do as a country. Ex-President Mahama put a lot of resources into fighting galamsey during his tenure around 2013. He set up a ministerial taskforce and supported the committee with a contingent of military personnel to combat the menace. But when he left power and campaigned as opposition leader ahead of the 2020 elections, when he visited areas where illegal mining is taking place, he promised the people that if they elected him president, he would ensure that all those arrested for galamsey were released.

This is what politics does to us as a nation. I remember that after Mahama set up the task force, some illegal miners were arrested and brought to justice. For political reasons and because he was seeking votes, he tolerated the activities of the illegal miners.

“It was not only Mahama who was guilty of this; the then Deputy National Communications Officer of the party, Kwaku Boahen, also went to the galamsey sites and told them: we know the taskforce is harassing you; if you vote for us, we will let you work and give you more land to mine. We all know that galamsey is destroying our farmlands and water bodies but for political reasons, politicians are supporting these illegal activities. With this attitude, we cannot win the fight against galamsey,” Nana Akomea explained.

Meanwhile, security analyst and consultant Prof. Kwesi Aning claims that galamsey, or illegal mining, has spread beyond ordinary citizens and become a cross-border organized crime.

He stressed that many foreigners were involved in these operations, which caused significant social unrest and environmental damage.

In an interview on Joy FM on Monday, Prof Aning said the country's rivers and other water bodies were suffering greatly from the galamsey operations.

Prof. Aning noted that the problem is beyond the reach of the general population and has even worsened. “We are talking about a conspiracy of various state and transnational organized crime networks,” he explained.