The Media Coalition Against Galamsey has pledged to urge Ghana’s two main presidential candidates, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and John Dramani Mahama of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), to publicly denounce illegal mining activities, commonly referred to as galamsey.
This initiative follows the coalition’s petition to the candidates in anticipation of the December elections.
In an interview on Channel One TV’s Face to Face, Dr. Ing. Kenneth Ashigbey, Convenor of the Media Coalition Against Galamsey, expressed a commitment to continue advocating for this cause despite the candidates’ silence regarding the petition.
“We need the NDC’s presidential candidate, former President John Mahama, and the NPP’s presidential candidate, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, to publicly declare their support for the crisis response we are seeking,” he stated.
“Unfortunately, we have reached out to both Bawumia and Mahama, but we have yet to receive a response. We will keep pushing for this.”
The Convenor also outlined strategic measures to combat galamsey in the lead-up to the elections. To promote a united front, he stressed the importance of a non-partisan approach to avoid political manipulation and called on political parties to collaborate with President Akufo-Addo to collectively address illegal mining.
“If we don’t make this a non-partisan battle, and bring everybody in, you will have a situation where some of these political parties would want to take advantage of the fight to the detriment of Ghanaians.
“We need the political parties all behind the commander-in-chief and saying that we’re fighting this together. And I can tell you, the movements are going to happen.”
