Majority Leader Alexander Afenyo-Markin has cast doubt on the government’s commitment to tackling illegal mining, popularly known as galamsey.
He acknowledged that although the previous NPP administration made efforts to combat the menace, the systems and structures put in place under President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo’s government were not robust enough.
Afenyo-Markin noted that the then-opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) capitalized on those weaknesses to discredit the NPP’s fight against galamsey.
However, he criticized the current NDC government for showing little seriousness in addressing the issue since assuming office, citing the establishment of the GoldBod—which, according to him, purchases gold from all sources without verifying how it was mined—as an example of this laxity.
“They are now in government, they’ve set up the GoldBod, and they are buying gold from all manner of sources; they don’t care where the gold is coming from. I don’t see any seriousness about the fight against galamsey. I’ve not seen structures, manifest structures,” he said on Joy News.
