.Yaw Adomako Baafi, former Communications Director of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), has defended the Akufo-Addo administration’s record in the fight against illegal mining—commonly referred to as galamsey—arguing that Ghana’s river bodies were already significantly polluted before the NPP assumed office in 2017.
Speaking on the Oyerepa Breakfast Show on Tuesday, Baafi pushed back against critics who blame the Akufo-Addo government for the current state of the country’s rivers and water bodies.
According to him, the NPP inherited the environmental damage caused by years of unchecked galamsey activities under the previous National Democratic Congress (NDC) administration.
“I will not say that the Akufo-Addo administration was perfect. But he did well in the fight against galamsey. Let no one say the water bodies were destroyed under Nana Akufo-Addo,” Baafi stated during the live radio discussion.
Baafi went further to attribute a worsening of illegal mining operations to the introduction of chamfan mining equipment during the NDC era. ‘Chamfan’ refers to a type of Chinese-made gold mining machinery that has often been associated with deep environmental degradation due to its use in riverbed dredging and alluvial mining.
“The first time Chamfans entered Ghana was in October 2011 under the NDC,” he claimed. “It got worse under Mahama. I am from a village and have travelled through many areas. I’ve crossed rivers like the Ankobra, Tano, Densu, and Pra and these were all already heavily polluted before the NPP came to power.” He stated.
