The Media Coalition Against Galamsey has announced its intention to petition the two leading presidential candidates, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and John Dramani Mahama of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), to publicly express their strong opposition to illegal mining, commonly known as galamsey.
Speaking in an interview with Selorm Adonoo on The Big Issue on Channel One TV and Citi FM, the convener of the coalition, Ing. Kenneth Ashigbey, emphasized, “The illegality of mining has nothing to do with the scale. When you referenced the labour statement, they called for a ban on all forms of mining around waterbodies, but they did not call for a ban on small-scale mining.”
Ing. Ashigbey further clarified that, the Coalition is not advocating for a complete ban on mining but is calling for a state of emergency and stricter enforcement of Ghana’s mining laws to prevent environmental destruction, particularly to water bodies.
He revealed that the coalition’s next step will be to urge both the NPP and NDC presidential candidates to clearly declare their stance on the issue of galamsey.
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