Fighting Galamsey: NAPO’s Call For National Pact Gains Support But NDC Assures To Allow Illegal Miners Do Their Work

Continuous assurances by leading members of the NDC that a John Mahama government will allow galamseyers to do their work, has strengthened the call made by NPP vice presidential candidate, Dr Matthew Opoku Prempeh (Napo)for presidential candidates in this years elections to sign a national pact to prioritize the fight against galamsey.

For some time now, leading members of the NDC have been promising galamseyers that if they vote for John Mahama to become president, they will be given the freedom to operate.

Mustapha Gbande, the Deputy General Secretary of the NDC, has been captured in a viral video assuring illegal miners at a site that they will be allowed to continue destroying the forests and water bodies if they vote for John Mahama to win the December 7 election. “By the grace of God, if on December 7, you vote for John Mahama to become President, you will continue to do your galamsey work,” Gbande said.

The running mate of the NDC, Prof. Jane Naana Opoku-Agyemang, also recently said at a campaign event in the Amenfi area of the Western Region that it was not today that galamsey started and that an NDC government will not stop them the people from doing their work.

Kwaku Boahen, a former NDC national executive who is notorious for encouraging galamseyers to vote for NDC so that they will be given the freedom to operate, has also been captured in a viral video saying he has no regrets engaging in that activity. “Yes, I have been doing it and they (NPP) claim what I did in the run up to the 2020 elections led to their poor performance in the galamsey areas. Very soon, I will go back to the galamsey communities to do the same thing, “ he said on UTV.

Condemnation
These pronouncements have been condemned by right thinking Ghanaians, especially coming at the time the government has deployed troops to affected areas to combat the illegal activities. To many people, it is clear that the NDC is not the right party to stop galamsey.

More calls
Meanwhile, there has been more calls for presidential candidates to sign a national pact to demonstrate that they are committed to fighting galamsey.

Since Napo first made that call, President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo and Organised Labour have also challenged the presidential candidates to submit to the pact.

In a statement on October 9, President Akufo-Addo said, “This agreement would commit all the presidential candidates and political parties to prioritise the fight against galamsey as part of their election promises. “

Organised Labour also repeated the call on October 9 after it withdrew its threat to call a national strike over galamsey.