You’ve lost galamsey fight after giving concessions to NPP members - Mahama to Nana

Former President John Dramani Mahama has suggested President Akufo-Addo has failed in dealing with illegal mining although he promised to deal with the problem.

Recounting the president’s promise to put his presidency on the line in dealing with galamsey, the NDC’s presidential candidate marked the president poorly saying he has only seized concessions from original owners and handed it over to members of the NPP.

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo in 2017 served notice that he was ready to put his Presidency on the line in his quest to fight illegal mining, otherwise known as galamsey.

The president in that year stated that it would not be much of a bother to him should he lose his seat in the fight against galamsey.

Addressing a two-day workshop on galamsey for traditional leaders drawn from different parts of the country in Accra, the President said: “I have said it in the Cabinet, and perhaps this is the first time I am making this public, that I am prepared to put my Presidency on the line on this matter.”

“If by the grace of God, my party allows me to go again and I have the health and everything to go again but do not get it again, then I will say to myself: ‘Well, this is a choice I have to make as a human being.’ Do you do what is right or what you think will make you get along? I think you do what is right and what you are required to do,” he added.

Mr. Mahama recounting this said ”in discussing the fight against galamsey, he [Nana Addo] has failed completely. What he [Nana Addo] has done is to seize concessions belonging to people and claimed to use them for community mining. However, he has handed these concessions to party members and allowed them to be engaging in galamsey. As for the party members, they can engage in galamsey but for Ghanaians, they cannot. They have also seized excavators from Ghanaians and handed it over NPP members. This is why I promised to retrieve all seized excavators and return them to their original owners.”

He assured miners with a valid mining licence that had their concession seized of the opportunity to get their concessions back ”because we all Ghanaians; we will put in place new reforms for everyone to obey and lawfully mine”.

He was addressing a gathering at the Town Hall Meeting organised by the NDC in Kumasi on Tuesday, September 15, 2020.