Minority Leader Alexander Afenyo-Markin has said the John Mahama-led NDC government, through the purchase of gold from small-scale miners, is supporting galamsey activities.
Afenyo-Markin accused the John Mahama-led government of surrendering to galamsey activities and being an enabler of galamsey through Goldbod.
Speaking in parliament to deliver his concluding remark to end the debate on the 2026 budget, Afenyo-Markin stated, “This government has surrendered to galamsey activities. This government has become its enabler”.
“In this budget, the government announced that the Gold Board will buy gold from small-scale miners. They are not fighting illegal mining. Instead, the NDC government is financing it. This gives it official endorsement,” he stated.
He further lamented, “Today, members of NAIMOS are getting hurt, shot at, and even killed while fighting a battle their own government has abandoned. Eight lives were lost on their way to launch a programme to fight illegal mining”.
“Today, their own government is showing neither seriousness nor commitment to stop illegal mining. They have created a Gold Board to buy gold they cannot trace and from miners they cannot verify, a system built for complicity, not enforcement. If the government cannot trace the gold, it should not buy it,” he added.
He further stated boldly that the 2026 Budget Statement and Economic Policy Document must be withdrawn, with a new budget brought before Parliament.
The minority leader labelled the 2026 Budget Statement as a “cut-and-paste” compilation, failing to provide a fresh policy direction.
According to Afenyo-Markin, Ato Forson, the finance minister, failed to present a carefully prepared and accurate budget.
Speaking on the floor of parliament during the debate of the policy document on Thursday, November 27, Afenyo-Markin stated, “How can you, at paragraph 519, claim that there is a Ministry of Railway Development? How can you, at paragraph 528, say there is a Ministry of Sanitation and Water Resources, and at paragraph 523 refer to a Ministry of Works and Housing?”
He further asserted that the 2026 budget was recycled from previous budget statements.
“This document has been brought to Parliament in the least. This document must be withdrawn and a new budget brought before Parliament,” he stated.
Meanwhile, the Majority Leader, Mahama Ayariga, has declared that Ghana has moved from a ‘criminal economic mismanagement’ to prudence.
He argued that Ghana has moved from criminal handling of the economy to a regime of prudence within just one year.
Mahama Ayariga praised the fiscal direction of the Mahama administration, adding that the budget demonstrates clear evidence of growth.
He added, “This is a budget that will generate growth. This is a budget that reflects prudent management of the resources of this economy to achieve growth objectives,” he stated.
“In one year — and this budget reflects this — we have shifted gears from a criminal handling of the economy to prudence. Indeed, the president had the course to describe the situation that we met in this country as a crime scene.”
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