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Member of Parliament for Buem, Kofi Adams, has taken a swipe at the Akufo-Addo–Bawumia-led administration over its inability to combat the menace of illegal mining, generally known as ‘galamsey’, and corruption.
According to him, the President “has failed to protect the economy and has also failed to protect the environment. His failure to protect the environment is a clear indication that he cannot protect the economy”.
This follows an exposé by the former Minister for Environment, Science, Technology, and Innovation, Prof Kwabena Frimpong Boateng, that some top government officials are engaged in illegal mining.
“Let me tell you that I did not take one excavator for anything, they know the truth. Now things are coming up, we know those who are behind it and the party people who are there, people in government including Jubilee House who are doing galamsey and so on, even now,” the former Minister under the Akufo-Addo–Bawumia-led administration in an interview with state broadcaster GBC alleged.
Mr Adams, commenting on the State of the Nation Address by President Akufo-Addo on the floor of Parliament on Wednesday 15th March, stated that “the government’s failure to stem the tide of illegal mining has led to the destruction of the country’s forests and water bodies, as well as the loss of millions of Ghana cedis in revenue to the country”.
Statistics from 2017 to 2023, compiled by the Ghana Water Company, have revealed that the country has lost over GH¢ 1.5 billion in revenue due to illegal mining activities. In addition, data from the Forestry Commission of Ghana has revealed that over 2,000 hectares of forest cover have been destroyed due to illegal mining in the same period.
On corruption, the Legislator observed that the President’s failure to protect the environment is a clear indication that he is unable to protect the economy, and that his failure to tackle corruption is a testament to this.
According to him, the President is unable to talk about corruption as “the word [corruption] has gone missing, as far as the President’s dictionary is concerned”.
In view of this, Kofi Adams submitted that the government needs to take decisive actions to end the galamsey menace and combat corruption in the country.
He urged the government to strengthen the country’s anti-corruption institutions and ensure that they are adequately resourced and empowered to investigate and prosecute all cases of corruption and galamsey.
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