Former Government Spokesperson on Governance, Dr. Palgrave Boakye-Danquah, has cautioned that Ghana could lose its people to environmental destruction if illegal mining, popularly known as galamsey, is not tackled with urgency.
Speaking on Prime Insight on Joy Prime on Saturday, September 13, he urged the government to demonstrate stronger commitment to the fight.
“If I were to give counsel to the sitting government, my advice would be very simple: when we don’t tackle the illegality of mining, we would one day wake up and have nobody to govern because the issues are so adverse,” Dr. Boakye-Danquah warned.
He described galamsey as a driver of climate change and a direct threat to national security.
“We are depleting the ozone layer. The climate impact is very high. It is a risk to our security and a number of issues you cannot run away from,” he added.
Reflecting on his time in government, Dr. Boakye-Danquah said deliberate measures were put in place to combat illegal mining, and urged the current administration to learn from those efforts.
“The government must be up and doing, pick up lessons from us because we worked very hard. These are the lessons I’m bringing on board to remind them of the things we did that yielded results,” he explained.
He criticised the current administration for what he described as a slow and ineffective response.
“I’m glad the Ghana Water Company is reminding Ghanaians of the turbidity level, because it clearly shows that the government has been sleeping since it began. You have had an opportunity to be in government since January, and you are still on honeymoon in September. I think we need to wake up the President from the honeymoon. It’s over — these issues must be addressed,” he stressed.
Dr. Boakye-Danquah also warned against political hypocrisy in handling the matter.
“We know where the issues are. We know how to deal with them. This government campaigned, and the Ghanaian people gave them power. Like I said, the honeymoon is over. We haven’t seen the kind of political will that President Mahama showed on this. Our efforts yielded results, even if we didn’t completely end illegal mining. Former President Akufo-Addo also put his presidency on the line because of the importance of this fight. We have not seen such efforts from President John Mahama,” he noted.
Calling for tougher legal action, he urged government to ensure those profiting from illegal mining are held accountable.
“All of us stand at risk, clearly. I thought the LI 2462 would have been revoked by now. It is only now that the Attorney General is making moves. These are issues that should have been dealt with boldly and strongly. Why should people be making money at the detriment of our health?” he questioned.
Source: Myjoyonline
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