One Ghana Movement and the Media Coalition Against Galamsey, Senyo Hosi, has said Ghana is hopeless if President John Mahama cannot address the galamsey menace in the country.
According to Senyo Hosi, former President Akufo-Addo should have been the one to fix galamsey, as he was not standing for an election in 2024.
Speaking on Joy News’ PM Express on September 23, Senyo Hosi stated, “If this president will not do it, then we are, we are hopeless.”
“Because, first of all, I actually thought that former President Akufo-Addo should have been the one man to have fixed this problem, because he wasn’t standing for election anymore. He should have left with his name high, but he didn’t.”
Mr Hosi added, “This President is a one-term president, if for nothing at all. One of your closest people died. Dr Omane Boamah is not a friend to the president; it’s his brother, one of his closest confidants.
“Mister President, if you can look at those children, Yaw, his wife and all of them and still be superintending this thing, then you’re your own honestly. We must be men with some little honour, even among thieves; there is honour, what is this? We lie!”
He also cited water quality, “What is the turbidity that Joy News found, Kwanyarko? It is at 94,800 NTU now, when last year we were told that it was 14,000, and all of us got up. In that same facility, the same central region, in a different plant, it was 14,000…our politicians are damn liars.”
Meanwhile, the Fix The Country Movement has demanded that the John Mahama-led government declare a State of Emergency on galamsey and repeal Legislative Instrument (LI) 2462.
According to the movement, the Galamsey menace needs to be tackled head-on.
Speaking on Channel One, Edward Tuttor, a member of the movement, stated, “Galamsey needs to be tackled head-on. We don’t need to massage the issues. We don’t need to pretend as if we don’t know what is going on”.
“I was happy when the president… admitted publicly that galamsey is now a national emergency. If it is a national emergency, we are saying that the president should declare a state of emergency,” he insisted.
Edward Tuttor added, “The problem of galamsey is a clear-cut problem and the solution is clear-cut: repeal LI 2462 and declare a state of emergency”.
Also, the Fix The Country Movement threatened to declare a state of emergency if the government failed to act.
A convener expressed disappointment in the government’s response to the crisis, tagging it as weak.
Speaking on Eyewitness News, a convener of the Movement, George Aggrey stated, “If the government says it is not time to declare a state of emergency on the galamsey, to be honest, I think it is not a good statement to make”.
“I don’t know to what extent the government wants it to get to before they see it as a state of emergency. So for me and the teeming youth that joined the protest today, what we are saying is: if the government fails to declare a state of emergency on this issue, then the youth of the land—we will declare a state of emergency”, he added.
The Fix The Country Movement protest coincided with Ghana’s Founder’s Day, with protesters holding placards and banners calling on President Mahama to defend the country’s land, water bodies, and future.
Meanwhile, Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah, the Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, has issued a stern warning to illegal miners commonly known as galamseyers.
The land minister revealed President John Mahama’s focus is clear as he wants to take direct control of every river body.
According to the lands minister, there will be a clear occupation by security agencies on all Ghana’s river bodies.
Armah-Kofi Buah warned galamseyers violating and destroying water bodies to stop, as the government is determined to turn the water blue again.
Speaking during an anti-galamsey operation with officers of the National Anti-illegal Mining Operations Secretariat (NAIMOS) at Ankobra River from Wiawso Armah-Kofi Buah stated, “We are sending a warning to anybody who has been violating our laws and destroying our water bodies. We are determined to turn them blue again.
“This order has already been given — stay out, or you do so at your own peril,”
“We are moving to another major phase of our fight against illegal mining. There is no law in Ghana that allows anybody to mine in any river body,” he said. “Yet, our major rivers that are key to our survival are being destroyed.”
“In the coming months, you will see a new shift. President Mahama’s focus is clear — we are going to take direct control of every river body. There will be a clear occupation by our security forces on all the major rivers,” he said.
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