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John Dramani Mahama, the presidential candidate of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), has been urged by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to make clear his position on the battle against galamsey, or illicit mining.
Mahama was criticized by Akufo-Addo for making what he called confusing and conflicting remarks on the matter.
Given the issue’s effect on Ghana’s environment and resources, he encouraged Mahama to present a clear and forceful stance on how he plans to address it.
The president’s comments coincide with the fact that illicit mining is still a serious issue that threatens the nation’s natural resources and means of subsistence.
During his Tuesday thank-you visit, Akufo-Addo addressed Chiefs in the Northeast, saying “Today, he is saying that, no, he doesn’t believe in jail, that he’s against galamsey, and he will enforce the law. So once again, we have to ask ourselves, mister JM, where do you stand?
“What are you telling the people of Ghana? Because every time you speak, you speak from one corner of your mouth, and you speak from another corner of your mouth. Let us hear from you direct, straight up what do you stand for. We need to know.”
The president also suggested that both parties make a political commitment in order to handle the galamsey issue in a nonpartisan manner.
“The candidate, the NPP presidential candidate has gone on record as saying that as far as he’s concerned, he is prepared to sign a pact that would take the galamsey issue out of our politics, to depoliticise it, to commit him and our party, all of us agreeing that we would deal with this galamsey phenomenon on a nonpartisan basis. We are yet to hear from the NDC presidential candidate. I’m asking him to also come out and support the idea of a political pact on galamsey,” he said.
President Akufo-Addo reaffirmed his determination to fight galamsey, even if it means facing political repercussions.
“This galamsey matter, which has risen a lot in Ghana today. The last election in the mining districts of the country, 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 that I was implementing of trying to stop galamsey would be reversed when he came to power and that those who were already in jail for offenses, the galamsey offenses, all of them would be amnestied.”
“When I said I was putting my presidency on the line, that’s what I meant, that I was prepared to take the political risk involved in trying to deal with this galamsey phenomenon. The result, of course, was that the mining districts, especially in the western region, all of them, including almost nearly even Tarkwa, was lost to the NPP. That is what I meant when I said I’m putting my presidency on the line, that I was prepared to take the political risk involved in coming to grips with this problem,” Akufo-Addo said.
Source: Ghanatodayonline.com
