Mahama, NDC unpatriotically exploited galamsey issues for votes in 2020 - Sulemana Braimah

Executive Director of the Media Foundation for West Africa, Sulemana Braimah, has criticized former President John Dramani Mahama and the National Democratic Congress over issues relating to illegal small-scale mining (galamsey).

According to him, the former president and the NDC exploited the issue in the 2020 elections in an attempt to garner

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This he says, was a demonstration of partisanship over patriotism in a matter which should require the commitment of everyone across the board.

“Ahead of the 2020 election, former President Mahama and his NDC party, exploited the Galamsey issue for votes. That was not patriotism, it was partisanship. The Galamsey fight needs the commitment of all,” Sulemana Braimah tweeted on October 6.

Following recent discussions on the galamsey menace, videos have resurfaced of the former president telling some people he met at Obuasi that it was unfair for the government to “release” Chinese galamsey kingpin, Aisha Huang, after her arrest over galamsey activities.

He promised the people gathered that if elected president, he was going to release Ghanaians who have been imprisoned over galamsey matters.

In another video, then-candidate Akufo-Addo accused Mahama of peddling the falsehood that he was going to cancel galamsey activities when he is elected as president.

Ghana has been waging war on the activities of illegal miners, however, it is widely believed that the fight has not yielded the desired results.

The discolored nature of water bodies as well as general environmental degradation has been used as a testament to the failed fight.

President Akufo-Addo on October 5 met with the National House Chiefs and the various Metropolitan, Municipal and District Chief Executives to court their support for the fight against galamsey.

He admitted that despite putting his presidency on the line in 2017 for the fight, it has not yielded the desired results.

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