The National Communication Director of the National Democratic Congress (NDC),Mr Sammy Gyamfi has said that comments by Senior Minister, Yaw Osafo Marfo was the position of President Akufo-Addo.
He said, the comment by Mr Yaw Osafo Marfo who explained that the discontinuation of the prosecution of Aisha Yuang, a Chinese national who was arrested in connection with her involvement in illegal mining in far away America when he met Ghanaians in a town hall meeting was only a manifestation of what the Akufo-Addo government will sell Ghanaians for money.
At a press conference yesterday at the NDC headquarters, the Communication Director, said the truth is what was spoken by Yaw Osafo Marfo, whose government’s intention is to trade the laws of the country with a financial deal with the Synohydro Company of China.
Mr Gyamfi, who spoke on a wide range of the illegal mining activities in Ghana, noted that Akufo-Addo has never been committed to the fight against, except to talk so much about it and deliver nothing.
For him, whiles Tanzania prosecuted and jailed a Chinese national over her involvement in illegal ivory activities, Ghana was shielding by setting free a Chinese national who was arrested in a similar act thereby exposing the Ghana to the world as a failed country with weak and getting away with crimes.
Named the Moment of Truth series which was the fourth in series ,Mr Gyamfi ,recounted how the Minister for Local Government , Hajia Alima Mahama, revealed that the Metropolitan, Municipal and District executives, have been involved in the practice, which suggested that the President’s and his appointees have been illegal miners with no commitment to fighting it .
According to him, Akufo-Addo, Will do anything to sell the country for money and that is what was explicitly alluded to by the Senior Minister, who has since not been reprimanded .
He said the comment made by Mr Marfo, is a stab at the back of Ghanaians in the sense that, the sovereignty of the state was sacrificed for a deal which is not even free.
“Ladies and gentlemen of the press, the decision of the Akufo-Addo government to trade our laws ,our environment, our resources and our lives for $2billion Synohydro deal -which by way is not even a grant but a so -called barter arrangements in exchange of proceeds from bauxite ,is an insult to our sovereignty and dignity as a people “,he stressed.
The fight against illegal mining, he noted is nothing but a failure, explaining that the practice is ongoing unabated.
He said, the ban on even the small scale mining has been nothing but a disaster in view of the fact that the water bodies which used to be yellowish has become coffee in color.
“It is worthy of note that owing to this fight, the Akufo-Addo government banned legal small scale mining for almost two years.In the process, some small scale miners were shot and killed at their duly licensed sites. Several precious lives have been lost in the last two years including the sad and untimely death of a fine Soldier Major Maxwell Mahama. Also , several small scale miners have lost their life time investment and livelihoods”, he added.
He has therefore called for the total overhaul of the Inter-ministerial task force against illegal mining and urgent reviews in its approach.
“This is the time Akufo-Addo, to rise above his sweet, but hollow rhetoric and start to walk the talk”, he said.
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Credit: Ghanawish.com | theheraldghana.com
