Outspoken National Democratic Congress (NDC) member and former Deputy Youth and Sports Minister, Joseph Yamin has alleged that President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo and the New Patriotic Party (NPP) machinery has equipped its members to engage in galamsey, reason there is a difficulty to fight the menace successfully.
He says when the government banned all forms of small-scale mining in the country; it took NPP members to the University of Mines and Technology (UMaT) at Tarkwa under the disguise of community mining training.
It can be recalled that in 2017, the Government said it released GH¢500,000 to the University of Mines and Technology (UMaT), Tarkwa, to start training artisanal small-scale miners and other stakeholders.
The training was coordinated by the Ministerial Small-scale Mining Office.
The training was expected to address the ecological negative impact of illegal gold mining also known as ‘Galamsey’, which is polluting water bodies, degrading forest and farmlands.
However speaking on Kumasi based Ultimate FM, that program was a platform to equip NPP members to involve themselves in galamsey.
“This government after telling everyone in the small-scale to stop mining, so we could fight galamsey only turned round to equip its members on how to engage in galamsey for the benefit of their party and themselves”
“They took peoples lands and concession from them, and gave it to their members,
“I am telling you, all the so-called training in mining 90% was for NPP members and after they shared, dubious license to them, to go into the forests to destroy it that is why nobody has been arrested” he claimed.
“It was the same during President Kufuor’s era, under a so-called dubious PSI in mining some NPP members were taken to China to learn how to mining, reason galamsey is worse today and the Chinese are having a fields day”
He is urging a watchful eye by all Ghanaians, as Nana Addo and his NPP came to destroy, kill and steal as you predicted in the bible.
“The place in the Bible that says the devil came to destroy and kill was predicted for Nana Addo, I have said this and I am saying it again”, he claimed.“`
