The Convener of the Anti-Galamsey Coalition, Ken Ashigbey, has called on President John Dramani Mahama to take immediate and explicit action against politically exposed individuals implicated in illegal mining, popularly known as galamsey.
Speaking in an interview on Accra-based Citi FM, Mr. Ashigbey emphasized that the country faces an existential crisis due to the environmental destruction and water pollution caused by galamsey.
He noted that despite the President’s strong rhetoric against illegal mining, decisive action has been lacking, particularly in cases involving members of his own party.
Mr. Ashigbey highlighted two recent cases involving the Aowin MP, Oscar Ofosu Larbi and another in Ellembelle which demand urgent and decisive action.
Chiefs of Aowin have accused Mr. Larbi of engaging in illegal mining activities while the NDC Chairman of Evalue-Gwira-Ajomoro has also been accused of same.
According to Ashigbey, President Mahama must take a clear stance on these cases, just as he has done in previous corruption-related matters.
Beyond individual cases, Ashigbey criticized the continued existence of L.I. 2462, insisting it must be repealed immediately.
“L.I. 2462 is a bad law and must be repealed,” he said.
Despite the severity of the situation, he noted that the level of urgency applied to galamsey has not matched the swift action taken in other sectors by the government.
“You remember that the president before he even took office he set up ORAL, because he thought corruption was killing us.
“Immediately they got in, and then they got the challenge with education and feeding, immediately they didn’t set up a committee to think about what is happening and find out any information- they got into action, the same thing happened with Energy issues. Unfortunately we’ve not had that level of attention and action to the issue of galamsey,” he argued.
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