Sammy Gyamfi, the National Communications Officer of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), has sharply criticized President Akufo-Addo’s recent claim of risking his presidency to tackle illegal mining, dismissing it as mere deception.
Gyamfi highlighted that illegal mining is severely jeopardizing access to clean water, which could have dire consequences for Ghanaians if not effectively addressed.
He accused the New Patriotic Party (NPP) of misleading both the media and the public with their promises, suggesting that the NPP’s true agenda was harmful and deceitful.
“What the NPP came to do was to kill, to steal, and to destroy. They had no genuine commitment to the fight against illegal mining, and the flowery talk you heard from President Akufo-Addo about putting the presidency on the line was all a scam. There was no commitment to fight illegal mining in the first place; in fact, there was no fight.”
In a related issue, Dr. Clifford Braimah, Managing Director of the Ghana Water Company Limited, warned of a potential severe water crisis due to inefficiencies in water treatment.
Speaking on Joy FM’s Super Morning Show, he expressed alarm at the high rate of water loss during treatment, which is currently between 35% and 50%, far above the acceptable level of 5%. This inefficiency poses a significant health risk.
Gyamfi criticized the NPP’s approach, alleging that their supposed commitment to combating illegal mining was never genuine. He claimed that the real intent was to displace small-scale miners and allow NPP loyalists and government officials to take over the illegal mining activities.
Gyamfi argued that the public, media, and civil society were deceived by the NPP’s promises and failed to scrutinize their true motives, enabling them to execute their alleged harmful plan unchallenged.
“That is why they have been able to implement this evil game plan to the letter: because they were not being checked. But we saw through the deception right from the get-go and we told you, we warned that these guys are not committed to the illegal mining fight.”