The Media Coalition Against Galamsey has made a bold move ahead of Ghana’s upcoming elections, urging the country’s two leading presidential candidates to take a clear stance on the issue of illegal mining, commonly referred to as galamsey.
Despite a petition submitted by the coalition, both to Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and John Dramani Mahama of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) have remained silent on the matter, prompting the coalition to intensify its efforts.
In an interview on Channel One TV‘s Face to Face, Dr Ing. Kenneth Ashigbey, Convenor of the Media Coalition Against Galamsey, expressed determination to pursue the agenda despite the candidates’ silence on the petition.
“We need the National Democratic Congress’ presidential candidate, H.E former President John Mahama,and the New Patriotic Party presidential candidate, H.E Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, to declare openly the support for this crisis response that we’re asking for.
“Unfortunately, we have written to the two of them [Bawumia and Mahama], but we don’t have any response yet. We’re going to push that.”
The Convenor of the Media Coalition Against Galamsey outlined strategic actions to combat galamsey in the lead-up to the elections.
To ensure a united front, he emphasized the need for a non-partisan approach to prevent political exploitation.
He called on political parties to join forces with President Akufo-Addo to tackle illegal mining collectively.
“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.”
Source: CNR
