By: Franklin ASARE-DONKOH
The Convenor of the Media Coalition Against Galamsey, Dr. Ing. Kenneth Ashigbey, has challenged the Vice President and 2024 flagbearer of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, to implement his policy plan to address illegal mining activities, known in the Ghanaian parlance as ‘galamsey’, before the 2024 general elections.
According to Dr. Ing. Ashigbey, if the Vice President has anything to do to stop the galamsey menace he (Bawumia) should do it now.
He emphasised that Ghanaians cannot wait until after the elections for the policies outlined in the manifestos of the NPP and National Democratic Congress to be implemented to tackle “galamsey”.
Dr. Ing. Ashigbey highlighted the severe consequences Ghana faces if ‘galamsey’ is not curtailed to the barest minimum in the shortest possible time.
The Convenor of the Media Coalition Against Galamsey’s challenge to the Vice President follow the announcement by the Ghana Water Limited (GWL) that Cape Coast, Elmina, and surrounding communities in the Central Region will experience water challenges due to galamsey.
Speaking in an interview on ‘The Point of View’, a current affairs program aired on an Accra-based Channel One Television, Dr Ing. Ashigbey stressed the need for politicians to acknowledge the galamsey crisis and deal with it decisively.
He criticised politicians involved in illegal mining activities, citing companies like Akonta Mining and Heritage Imperial, which have been left off the hook despite several petitions.
According to him, politicians have extensively benefitted from exploiting mining to the detriment of citizens.
“When you have a situation, where the state, the leadership does not deal with its own who are involved in it. Or all the big men who imported all of these excavators, then this is where we are going to go. Nature will start hitting back at us because it will impose a drought on you.
At a time when your irresponsibility has become so glaring because you are going into the next election and the galamsey activity is at its height. And then what you start seeing are these pockets of drought. Already you have a situation where, if you are not careful, your grains are failing.
So we cannot wait to say that these manifestos that we have seen, we want to wait until after the election before we start implementing them. Whether it’s coming from the current vice President or the ex-president, so, the decision is now,” he said.
The GWL explained in a statement dated Friday, August 30, 2024, that pollution in the catchment area of its intake point has reduced water intake to a minimal level, with approximately 60% of the catchment capacity silted due to galamsey. The company noted that the Sekyere Hemang Water Treatment Plant (WTP) has experienced a significant demand-supply gap due to inadequate raw water intake caused by pollution of the Pra River.
Whilst the country is currently experiencing drought conditions due to uncontrolled activities of galamsey in water bodies and forest reserves, the vice president who is seeking to be elected president is all over promising while doing practically nothing to halt the galamsey menace.
The NDC’ 2024 presidential candidate, Mr. John Mahama, has pledged to deploy Artificial Intelligence to help fight illegal mining activities if he is elected president in the upcoming December 7 general elections.
Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, the vice president who is in a poll position to stop the galamsey now but doing nothing, has also pledged to support small-scale miners if he is victorious in the upcoming December elections.
He stated that his administration would implement a new strategy to manage small-scale mining nationwide.
Dr Bawumia promised to introduce a revised approach to curb illegal mining and preserve confiscated equipment, especially excavators if elected. The big question is why is the Vice President not putting his plans into action now?