Galamsey was powered by politics – Dr Toni Aubynn

The issue of small-scale mining, popularly known as galamsey has been a major concern in Ghana as the activities of these galamseyers have dire consequences on the environment, especially water bodies.

Several measures have been put in place to help curb this menace but all have proved futile.

Reacting to the prevalence of the phenomenon in the country, former Chief Executive of the Ghana Chamber of Mines, Dr Toni Aubynn has attributed the dealings of galamseyers to politics.

According to him, illegal small-scale miners in the country have been fuelled by politics.

Speaking on PM Express’s show Wednesday, February 24, 2021, Mr Aubynn said, “In 2008, [for instance] during that election, there was a presidential candidate who went to Prestea and said Prestea was galamsey and galamsey was Prestea, so these things were propelled by politics”.

He stated that a long-lasting solution needs to be rolled out to eradicate this deep-rooted problem in Ghana.

“Politicians don’t want to listen to history because what happened in the last four years could have been averted if our politicians had listened or gone back to history.”

Mr Aubynn further called on government officials and politicians to stop shielding people who are arrested for them to face the law.

He stressed that the attitude of using veto powers to free arrested illegal ministers should end.

“A politician would come and say, this is my person or our person, so we should just allow them,” he added.