A sympathiser of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) and the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Marrer Ghana Limited and Susagtad Boat Building, Novihoho Afaglo, has admonished President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to appoint an independent and non-partisan body to spearhead the anti-galamsey operations in the country.
According to him, the menace of illegal mining would also be another canker Ghana would have to battle with if the President does not move swiftly to stop their operations.
Mr Afaglo said the New Patriotic Party (NPP) has a daunting task to stop the operation of galamsey in the country as it was one of their campaign promises leading to the 2016 general election.
He said the President failed the last anti-galamsey operations in the country because the taskforce appointed to fight the menace turned out to be owning mining pits or engaging in the act.
“So it behoves on the President to now appoint non-political body with tough skin to spearhead the anti-galamsey operations,” the NDC man stated.
The CEO said at a point the government was winning the anti-galamsey war but when the Chinese and the local people realised that they were being sacked from the mining pits for sympathisers of NPP or key followers of the President to take over their pits the table turned immediately.
Mr Afaglo said people are still allocating lands to the Chinese in search of gold and they are destroying cocoa lands and water bodies in villages.
He said when these villages report the ongoing illegality of galamsey to the security agencies nothing is done because the doers claim it’s their party that’s in power.
“If nothing is done to the illegal mining, the future of our children and families in the villages are doomed forever because we are almost losing our farm and cocoa lands to this illegality,” he said.
Mr Afaglo said while the activities of the Chinese are depriving Ghanaians of “our water bodies and lands, the Asians are seriously working behind the scenes to overtake the production of cocoa from Africa.”
It was recently reported that the Asian country has exported its first batch of cocoa beans to Belgium weighing 500 kg worth about $3,600.