Convenor of the Media Coalition Against Galamsey, Dr. Ing. Kenneth Ashigbey, has challenged Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, the flagbearer of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), to put his policy proposal to address illegal mining activities—commonly known as “galamsey”—into effect before the general elections in 2024.
He highlighted that the plans listed in the NPP and National Democratic Congress manifestos to address “galamsey” must be put on hold until after the elections.
Dr. Ing. Ashigbey emphasized the grave dangers Ghana confronts in the event that “galamsey” is not reduced to the absolute minimum.
His comments follow the announcement by Ghana Water Limited (GWL) that Cape Coast, Elmina, and surrounding communities in the Central Region will experience water challenges due to galamsey.
In a statement released on Friday, August 30, GWL stated that the catchment area’s pollution has lowered water intake to a very low level, with galamsey causing almost 60% of the catchment capacity to become silted. The Pra River’s pollution has resulted in insufficient raw water intake for the Sekyere Hemang Water Treatment Plant (WTP), according to the firm. This has led to a notable mismatch between supply and demand.
During an appearance on The Point of View on Channel One TV, Dr. Ing. Ashigbey emphasized that governments must recognise the galamsey epidemic and take immediate action to address it.
Citing firms such as Akonta Mining and Heritage Imperial, who have escaped consequences in spite of multiple petitions, he condemned politicians engaged in illegal mining operations.
To the detriment of citizens, he claims that politicians have profited greatly from mining.
“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. Where then nature will start hitting back at us because it will impose a drought on you.
“At a time when your irresponsibility because you are going into the next election 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.”
If Mahama wins the presidency in the next general elections on December 7, he has promised to use artificial intelligence to combat illicit mining activities.
Additionally, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia has promised to assist small-scale miners in the event that he wins the next elections in December.
He declared that a new national policy for the regulation of small-scale mining will be put into place by his administration.
Should Dr. Bawumia be elected, he pledged to unveil an updated strategy to stop illegal mining and protect seized machinery, particularly excavators.