Galamsey: We Wouldn’t Be Here Today If We Had Given Akufo-Addo All Our Support – Communications Minister
Communications Minister, Ursula Owusu-Ekuful has called on political parties to make a “public commitment” to the fight against galamsey.
The Minister, speaking during Peace FM’s “Kokrokoo” show, held a strong view that the galamsey problem is not idiosyncratic to President Akufo-Addo for him to receive this sudden rise of opposition.
There has been a series of demonstrations against the government with regard to the galamsey fight.
A group of youth called Democracy Hub, some arrested and granted bail, recently hit the streets of the 37 Military Hospital registering their displeasure with the President not banning or taking immediate action against the illegal miners.
Following the demonstration are other protests that have been mounted strongly against the Akufo-Addo adminstration with some critics calling on him to declare a state of emergency and place an embargo on small-scale mining.
The opposition National Democratic Congress is a key member of the protesters.
But to Ursula Owusu, galamsey didn’t begin with President Akufo-Addo, however the President has demonstrated his commitment to combatting this menace since the inception of his government.
“It didn’t start today but it’s getting out of hand. It is therefore needful for all of us to come together and not tolerate it”, she remarked.
She alluded to the President’s efforts at stopping galamsey when he put his Presidency on line by deploying Military taskforce to the galamsey sites but this was met with fierce opposition from the National Democratic Congress and very same Ghanaians who are today lambasting him.
“If the President had all the support from us, maybe we wouldn’t have reached this stage. But when he was doing it, there were some people who were going behind him telling the galamseyers to vote against him and that they will allow them to continue their work when they come into power. We saw it; we saw them. People who should have known better strengthened the galamseyers”, she told host Kwami Sefa Kayi.
Suggesting a way forward to stopping galamsey, Ursula Owusu stated all the parties including the ruling New Patriotic Party should sign an agreement binding them to unite and fight the menace.
This, she believes, will prevent any politician or party from sabotaging the government like they did by going to give hope to the galamseyers to continue their work.
Source: Ghmessenger.com
