Dennis Miracles Aboagye, the spokesperson for Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia’s 2024 presidential campaign, has expressed strong opposition to any proposed ban on small-scale mining.
Aboagye, speaking on Joy News on September 19, argued that such a ban is politically driven rather than addressing genuine environmental concerns.
He criticized the proposal, suggesting it serves the interests of certain political factions rather than the country as a whole.
“The proposal they are making is not in the interest of the water bodies. They are making it in the interest of their own political affiliation,” he said.
Aboagye pointed out that previous attempts to ban small-scale mining have not been successful in solving the issues associated with it.
“Banning small-scale mining I don’t think is the way to go because, one, we have tried it before and it did not solve the problem.”
He acknowledged the environmental damage caused by illegal mining but insisted that it is unjust to penalize all small-scale miners, many of whom operate legally.
“There are people who are legitimately doing small-scale mining. It has nothing to do with galamsey, then we should go and ban Newmont and ban Gold Fields and Anglo Gold Ashanti and all that? But where Anglo Gold Ashanti and Newmont and co. are mining what has it got to do with the discussions we are having?” he added, “Indeed, our water bodies have been affected, indeed galamsey is destroying the water bodies.”
He also highlighted the economic impact of a ban, noting that it would lead to widespread job losses.
“Do you know what happens when you ban small-scale mining? There are tens of thousands of people who will lose their jobs. If my government bans small-scale mining, I will demonstrate against them.”
Furthermore, Aboagye dismissed calls for the removal of the Minister for Lands and Natural Resources, Samuel Jinapor, as a solution to the illegal mining problem, suggesting that such measures would not effectively address the underlying issues.