Alfred Thompson, a member of the NPP Communication Team, has slammed President John Mahama following his recent remarks on the fight against illegal mining (galamsey).
According to Alfred Thompson, President John Mahama’s recent remarks are hypocritical and inconsistent with earlier political realities
He highlighted that Mahama’s recent remarks undermine earlier campaign promises to tackle the menace decisively, claiming that the President’s remarks suggest a reluctance to act against party members fingered in the galamsey menace.
Speaking on Breakfast Daily on Thursday, March 19, Alfred Thompson stated, “Over a year into office, you now tell us it appears people within your own party are deeply involved, making the fight difficult. That is a hypocritical statement,” he said, adding that Ghanaians were already aware of the extent of political involvement in illegal mining activities.
Alfred Thompson’s comment follows, President John Dramani Mahama, who has confessed that illegal mining, commonly known as galamsey, involves individuals across political and traditional structures.
According to John Mahama, he will not kid himself that his own party people are not involved in the galamsey menace.
President Mahama highlighted that the fight against the galamsey menace will be difficult but must continue.
Mahama stressed that operators often shift allegiance when governments change, allowing the practice to continue.
Speaking during a meeting with Organised Labour at the Jubilee House in Accra on Tuesday, March 17, President Mahama stated, “Illegal mining has eaten into the fabric of our society. And I must say that it is not only a menace to our society, but it has involved a circle of traditional rulers, political party appointees and everything”.
“Even when one party changes, those who were running some operation, who went to one party, will go to the next party and say, now that you have come, come and take over this operation and let’s share. We, too, will be getting small; this is what we are doing. And so I don’t kid myself that we don’t have our own people involved,” he stated.
President Mahama further touched on the work of the anti-illegal mining task force NAIMOS, describing it as challenging, especially in communities where resistance is strong.
He added, “And the work of the NAIMOS is not easy. They go to a community, and the chiefs, the youth and everybody come out and resist them. And so, I didn’t kid myself that we would be able to win that fight overnight. But we cannot relent, we must continue”.
“And it doesn’t help when we have a crisis in the cocoa industry. The low price that was paid to cocoa farmers made some of them give up their farms for gold mining,” he noted.
“We are hoping that it will stabilise with the new automatic mechanism we are coming up with so that farmers know that they are getting 70% of the price,” he said.
“One of the problems we have is we don’t have patrol boats, especially on our waterways, for nine months to continue to patrol the waterways,” he explained.
Mahama further added that the Finance, Defence and Interior ministries are working to provide the necessary resources.
“So, we are working with the minister of finance to be able to maintain that,” he said.
Meanwhile, Dennis Miracles Aboagye, an aide to former Vice President and NPP flagbearer Mahamudu Bawumia, has told President John Dramani Mahama to arrest and prosecute NDC people involved in galamsey.
According to Dennis Miracles Aboagye, President Mahama must not only admit that NDC people are also involved in galamsey, but he must arrest and prosecute them.
In a post shared on X social media, Dennis Miracles Aboagye stated, “You have been pretending for a very long time about this fact, sir. It took you too long to admit what is public knowledge.
Now that you finally acknowledged your people are involved, and as we know, expect, you know who your people are, when are you getting them arrested and prosecuted??
Or mildly, when are you calling for a family meeting, lock yourselves in a room and ask your people to leave our forests and rivers alone sir…”