President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo believes the fight against illegal mining, popularly known as galamsey can be won if it is not politicized. He holds the view that until the menace is treated with a nationalistic approach, the fight against it cannot be won. Speaking at a meeting with the National House of Chiefs, the President bemoaned how all efforts to fight galamsey have failed. “It is obvious that, if we are to win the fight, you and l have to take the lead to collaborate closely to do so. That is why I am here today. After our meeting, I will also be meeting with the other half of the local government [institutions]-the Metropolitan, Municipal, and District Chief Executives in the ninety metropolitan, municipal, and district areas across the country, where mining activities take place, to seek their active collaboration.” He also called on the chiefs to support the government’s effort in dealing with the menace. “There are many requests I intend to make of you in the close-door session of our meeting, but one of the most significant, which I have to state now, is to seek your assistance to take partisan political interests out of the fight against galamsey.” “It can only succeed if it is a truly national battle, which no one seeks to exploit for political gain, as we saw in the last election.”
Galamsey fight caused NPP significant losses in the 2020 elections
President Nana Akufo-Addo also expressed how difficult the fight against illegal mining, also known as galamsey has been. “Since I assumed office in 2017 I have made it a central feature of my presidency to lead in the efforts to rid our country of this menace, which we all now call galamsey. Indeed, it was an important aspect of my inaugural address of that day”. “It has not been popular, and we have not got the immediate results that I was looking for,” he added. President Akufo-Addo said the view he made to fight the menace five years ago cost him and the NPP “significant losses in the mining communities” during election 2020. “It turned out that my statement that I was putting my presidency on the line in the fight against galamsey was neither bombast nor recklessness. It was a simple truth.” The President is nevertheless committed to fulfilling the promise he made to Ghanaians to bring an end to the menace. “I ask you all to join hands with me in the fight against illegal mining, in order to bring an end to the devastation of our landscape and the pollution of water bodies. We have to win that fight to keep our environment clean and protect our land and waters,” he told the chiefs. President Akufo-Addo in July 2017, in a similar forum against illegal mining, organised to get Ghana’s chiefs involved in the fight against galamsey put his presidency on the line for the fight. He vowed to stop the menace, even if he ends up losing the presidency.