Richard Ahiagbah, the Director of Communications for the New Patriotic Party (NPP), says President John Mahama wants to fight galamsey, but the government’s approach to tackling galamsey is not working.
According to Richard Ahiagbah, the galamsey menace in the country has reached alarming levels, with galamseyers increasingly emboldened.
Speaking on The Big Issue on Channel One TV on Saturday, November 8 Richard Ahiagbah stated, “Galamsey today, if you take away politics from it, is worse than it was when President Mahama came to office. There can be no denying of that. I believe in my heart that President Mahama genuinely wants to stop galamsey, but the approach so far is not working.
Even NAIMOS, I don’t see it as the lasting solution we need. We need a more expansive, all-hands-on-deck approach, one that is completely devoid of politics,” he said.
In a separate interview, Richard Ahiagbah fired shots at the National Democratic Congress (NDC) government over their failure to end galamsey.
According to Richard Ahiagbah, human beings are made in 9 months, yet the NDC in 10 months have failed to end galamsey.
The NPP Director of Communications is quoted by GHOne TV as saying, “ A human being is made in 9 months, yet NDC hasn’t been able to end galamsey in 10 months”.
Also, Justin Kodua Frimpong, the General Secretary of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), has claimed that illegal mining (galamsey) is now worse under the John Mahama-led government than it was under the NPP.
The NPP General Secretary boldly claimed that any reasonable person in this country will admit that the state of galamsey is now even worse than it was under the NPP administration.
According to him, the NPP cares so much about this country, and their doors are always open if the President sees the need to reach out for a proper round-table discussion on how to combat this menace.
Speaking at a press conference in Accra, the NPP’s General Secretary, Justin Kodua Frimpong, stated, “It is clear that galamsey has become worse under this administration. They have Members of Parliament who belong to the NDC, they have national officials from the NDC, the region, who are involved in galamsey.
It’s not surprising that the security agencies are struggling to deal with that issue, because when they make efforts, they are threatened by powers that be in this government,” he said.
He added, “If His Excellency President John Dramani Mahama sees the need and wisdom to reach out to us, we are ever ready for a proper roundtable discussion to deal with this matter once and for all,” he added.
Meanwhile, the National Anti-Illegal Mining Operations Secretariat (NAIMOS) has conducted a dawn operation at Osino in the Eastern Region, arresting 36 suspected illegal miners.
The group includes 32 Nigerien nationals and 4 Ghanaians, reportedly caught mining illegally along the Birim River in the Fanteakwa South District.
In a post on social media, Felix Kwaye Ofosu, Minister of Government Communications, stated, “NAIMOS Conducts Massive Dawn Strike in Eastern Region, arrests Several Foreign Galamseyers (32 Nigerien and 4 Ghanaians) in Swoop at Osino in the Fanteakwa South District – 8 November 2025”.