The Member of Parliament for Effiduase-Asokore, Dr. Nana Ayew Afriye, has accused the National Democratic Congress (NDC) of intentionally bringing in foreigners to mine in Ghana’s water bodies.
Speaking at a campaign event on Friday, September 27, he claimed that most of these water bodies were clean until about a month ago.
Dr. Afriye alleged that, the NDC imported individuals from Togo and Burkina Faso with the aim of sabotaging the current government in the lead-up to the December 7 elections.
“Small Scale Mining and Community Mining are different from what the Togolese and Burkinabe nationals have been brought in to do,” he stated.
“They have come to mine in the water bodies of Ofin, Oda, and Pra, but we are determined to take action against them. We have initiated operations in the middle belt to apprehend these individuals. We will try to locate those brought into the country, as one individual we have already detained has agreed to help us identify the rest,” he added.
Dr. Afriye further continued, “They saw that we are winning seats in the mining areas, so they decided to import foreigners to disrupt the status quo. Instead of mining in the forests, they have been directed to exploit our water bodies.”
He emphasized, “Have you forgotten? For the whole year, our water bodies were free from pollution. It is only in the past month that we have encountered these problems. This is a calculated move to undermine our efforts and make us lose seats.”
Climaxing his statement, he said, “We will not allow these activities to continue. There is a significant difference between small-scale or community mining and mining in our rivers. Those who choose to mine in water are acting irresponsibly, and they will face divine retribution for their actions.”
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