Mahama Fails in Fight Against Illegal Mining, Must Apologize to Akufo-Addo – Paul Twum Barimah
The former Member of Parliament for Dormaa East, Paul Apraku Twum Barimah, has criticized President John Dramani Mahama for failing to fulfill his campaign promise of ending illegal mining, popularly known as galamsey.
He has thus advised President Mahama and his ministers to apologize to Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo for leveling false allegations against him as a beneficiary of illegal mining.
In the run-up to the December 2024 general elections, President Mahama promised to end the galamsey menace within his first 90 days in office, but that is yet to happen, he said.
“As I speak to you now, the galamsey menace has gone out of control, with armed guards moving into forest reserves, attacking, and killing officers of the Forestry Commission. This is not what Ghanaians were promised. Ghanaians were promised an end to galamsey, but that is not what we are experiencing,” he stated.
According to Paul Twum Barimah, President Akufo-Addo, during his eight-year tenure, fought strongly against illegal mining, to the point that the NPP lost votes in mining areas and mining communities in the 2020 and 2024 general elections.
President Akufo-Addo never received any support from Mahama and the NDC in his fight against illegal mining at the time. “The NDC rather protested against the NPP government and succeeded in making it unpopular among Ghanaians. Today, their members are deeply engaged in galamsey and destroying our forest reserves.”
Since Mahama and his government have not been able to end galamsey in three months as they promised, they need to apologize to President Akufo-Addo.
“Mahama and Sam George denigrated President Akufo-Addo and even accused the former president of being complicit and a beneficiary of galamsey, a sad situation. Today, it has become obvious that President Akufo-Addo is not complicit and also not a beneficiary of illegal mining, so they have to apologize to Nana Akufo-Addo,” he added.
