Eastern Regional Minister, Seth Kwame Acheampong, has bemoaned the politicisation of the fight against illegal mining aka ‘galamsey’.
According to him, those engaging in illegal acts get away with murder when politicians take a center stage.
The country has been battling illegal mining for years now. In 2017, the Akufo-Addo government set up a joint military and police task force to clamp down on the menace.
But the task force withered out with little result achieved. Fast forward to 2021, another special military operation began to remove all persons and logistics involved in mining from Ghana’s water bodies.
President Akufo-Addo to demonstrate his commitment towards the fight against galamsey put his presidency on the line.
But over the years, the illegal mining is still prevalent with many alleging that, majority of those involved are in government.
Speaking in an interview on Adom FM’s morning show, Dwaso Nsem programme Monday, Mr Acheampong maintained that, government is not paying lip service to the fight against galamsey.
He indicated that, the devastating effects of galamsey across the country cannot be measured.
He indicated that, Ghana will need millions of dollars to reclaim the lands destroyed by illegal mining.
The Eastern Regional Minister noted that the focus now is to save the environment and the water bodies from being polluted by chemicals including mercury.
Mr Acheampong, whose region is badly affected by the menace, said all hands must be on deck to end galamsey.