President Nana Addo has called the bluff of illegal miners threatening to vote against his party in the 2020 elections, if he continues with his anti galamsey fight.
Speaking at Soabe in the Eastern Region, the President said he is unfazed by these threats.
“I haven’t said that I am going to stop mining. Mining has been done for decades in this country by several generations. I am only saying that, I am against those mining without legal backing. Illegal mining, that is what I am against. Today, Kyebi, Abirem, it’s a sad sight to behold. Mining along the water bodies cannot continue if we want to preserve nature and our system. I have been told some of the people engaged in illegal mining, have threatened to vote against the NPP in 2020, if I crack the whip on the culprits. I am more concerned about fulfilling God’s purpose and devising measures to propel the nation’s development. That’s my focus and not election related issues.”
“Things we must do to propel development are the things I am concerned about. Our forefathers left us the natural resources, if we can’t protect them then we should leave them for future generations” the President said.
Some residents of Prestea in the Prestea Huni-Valley District of the Western Region, are kicking against the ban on all forms of small scale mining, initiated by the Lands and Natural Resources Ministry across the country.
According to the residents, small-scale mining has been a part of their daily life “serving as a company” employing both skilled and unskilled youth in and around Prestea.
They questioned the government’s decision to halt galamsey when there has not been any alternative livelihood programme to absorb the thousands of people involved in the practice.
Residents of the largest constituency in the Western Region are predominantly small scale miners. Successive governments which have over the years attempted to stop their operations, have often been voted out of office.
Illegal miners in Tarkwa-Breman vow to vote against MP
Meanwhile, some of the miners in Tarkwa-Breman, also in the Prestea Huni-Valley, have vowed to vote against their Member of Parliament (MP), Madam Barbara Oteng Gyasi in the next general election, for waging war against their activities.
The first-time MP, is a Deputy Minister of Lands and Natural Resources.
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(Via: CitiFM Online Ghana)
