President of the Concerned Farmers Association, Nana Oboadie Bonsu, has criticized Minority Chief Whip Frank Annoh-Dompreh for his recent comments on the government’s funding for the fight against illegal mining, arguing that the previous administration failed to take meaningful action on the issue.
Annoh-Dompreh had accused the government of paying lip service to the fight against illegal mining, despite Parliament’s approval of GH₵1.8 billion for the Lands and Natural Resources Ministry.
He questioned why no dedicated funding was allocated to combat illegal mining, urging for urgent discussions to provide the necessary resources for the ministry’s efforts.
In response, Oboadie Bonsu dismissed Annoh-Dompreh’s concerns during an interview on JoyNews’ The Pulse on Thursday, March 27, stating that the previous government had neglected the issue when it had the opportunity to act.
“Frank Annoh-Dompreh has no moral right to comment on this matter. When their government was in power, we submitted a letter to the Minister of Lands and Natural Resources outlining solutions, but nothing was done,” Oboadie Bonsu said.
“They should give us a break because if they had done something meaningful, we wouldn’t be in this situation today.”
He also recalled instances where the Minerals Commission, under its previous CEO, was more proactive in supporting efforts to curb galamsey, highlighting an initiative where young people engaged in illegal mining were willing to transition to pig farming with the Commission’s support.
“We had young people in the bush engaging in galamsey, but they were willing to quit and start pig farming instead. The Commission supported this initiative, unlike the former administration, which spent millions of dollars claiming to fight galamsey while achieving nothing,” Oboadie Bonsu said.
He further alleged that officials from the previous government benefited financially from illegal mining rather than addressing it, particularly questioning the contributions of former Lands Minister Abu Jinapor to the crisis.
“All they did was exploit the country’s resources for their own benefit. Look at how much money was spent, yet nothing changed. These people were just enriching themselves while pretending to fight galamsey,” he added.
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