Stop the childish galamsey banter, focus on real issues - Edem Senanu to MPs

Co-chair of the Citizen's Movement Against Corruption, Edem Senanu, has condemned comments made by the Majority Chief Whip, Frank Annoh-Dompreh, accusing the Mahama-led administration of polluting more water bodies than the current government.

Speaking in an interview on TV3, which was monitored by GhanaWeb on Thursday, September 3, 2024, he described the remarks as outrageous and irresponsible.

He urged Members of Parliament to stop trivialising critical national issues such as illegal mining activities, popularly referred to as galamsey.

"It is outrageous and irresponsible, as I said. Simply outrageous and irresponsible. Stop behaving like children, small boys on a football field making trivial banter out of this.

"You were elected to take action, elected to promote the best interests of citizens. You don't come and say this. Is that why they are in Parliament? They think that is what we want to hear on TV and radio. It doesn't make sense. Look at the level of the crisis," he lamented.

He continued, "If they are making this statement at a time when there was no crisis, maybe you can let it go. But at this point, 14,000 turbidity when our system is not even supposed to do 2,000 and they are here joking."

Edem Senanu implored Parliamentarians to show more sensitivity to the plight of Ghanaians affected by illegal mining activities.

"They should just stop patting each other's back as if it is not an important thing for Ghanaians.

"We need to take immediate action now. They should not forget that this president put his presidency on the line if he didn't deal with this thing. If we are talking about integrity, people who mean what they say, we should see him taking some action.

"His words were, 'I will step down if I don't get results,' and they are not talking about that. They are saying, 'Who made it more dirty, more poisonous,' and it is something funny? It is highly outrageous and irresponsible behavior," he pointed out.

Senanu mentioned that Ghana's laws are not working due to the lack of integrity and ethics among our leaders.

"We didn't elect them to come back so they give us talkbacks on things that don't bring solutions. Let us get real and let our leaders behave like mature people in this country. We say everything thrives on leadership.

"Everything falls and rises with leadership. You brainstorm, get the solutions, implement them, and if they don't work, you modify them. This one is clearly a human behavior issue. This is from our lack of capacity to ensure it is not done.

"There are so many other jurisdictions people are doing comparisons online. The laws, policies, and programs are working. The only reason it will not work in Ghana is that there are people who are complacent, they are conflicted, and they are refusing to act.

"In other countries, where people have ethics and integrity, if you are not performing, you will just resign. Other people will come in and say, 'Let's see what we can do.'

"They are not getting us the results; what they want to do is comparisons. Is that serious behavior? Is that what leadership in the country has been reduced to? We need to hold the leaders to the highest standards of accountability," he explained.

On Tuesday, September 3, 2024, The Majority Chief Whip and Member of Parliament for Nsawam-Adoagyir, Frank Annoh-Dompreh, while responding to the minority’s concerns about the government’s failure to tackle illegal mining activities, argued that an investigation would reveal that the NDC caused more water pollution during their tenure.

“I was very happy when the Minority Leader challenged us that we will debate this matter and the culprit will be mentioned. In fact, we are ready to debate now. If we are to look and investigate both sides of the house," he stated.

His comments have sparked public backlash, raising questions about the government's commitment to the fight against the menace.

JKB/MA

b>Watch the latest episode of Everyday People on GhanaWeb TV below: