Abdul Rahim Karim, the Head of the Department of Agriculture, has stated that NPP Flagbearer Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia is the only person who can find solutions to the illegal mining menace in the country. According to him, Ghana has failed to effectively combat illegal mining, popularly known as galamsey, because Dr. Bawumia has not yet become President.
“I can tell you that because Dr. Bawumia has not been president, that is why we have not been able to find solutions to fighting the problem,” he said.
Mr. Karim made these remarks while answering a question about what a future NPP government would do differently to fight galamsey, given that the current NPP-led government appears to have failed to decisively solve the issue. This discussion took place at a dialogue organized by Penplusbytes in Tamale on Thursday.
Mr. Karim, who is also a member of the NPP Communication Team, noted that every Ghanaian government since 1992, including the current NPP government and the previous Mahama administration, has failed to solve the problem of illegal mining. He emphasized that only Dr. Bawumia can decisively address the issue.
He explained that a Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia government would engage the Ghana Geological Service to map out the exact locations of the country’s gold deposits to ensure that gold miners do not “dig anyhow to find gold.”
“You’ll agree with me that, from 1992 to date, every government has experienced the galamsey challenge, including former President Mahama. It has not been solved. Only Dr. Bawumia has said that when he’s given the opportunity to fight galamsey, he’s going to engage stakeholders and the Geological Service to map and clearly state areas where there are gold deposits. So that we won’t pick pick-axes, we won’t pick cutlasses, we won’t send shanfung machines and dig anyhow to find gold,” he noted.
The dialogue brought together some of the political parties contesting this year’s Presidential election to explain their manifestos to the youth.
Dr. Ahmed Yakubu, former NDC Member of Parliament for Mion and former Deputy Minister of Agriculture under the Mahama government, blamed the current galamsey issues on the passage of the Legislative Instrument on mining in forest reserves. He said a future NDC government would review the laws to ensure the protection of the country’s water bodies and forest reserves.
Jerry Sam, Executive Director of Penplusbytes, told the media he was impressed with the quality of the discussions during the dialogue. He said his organization organized the dialogue to help the youth and Ghanaians better understand the promises contained in the manifestos of the various political parties.
