Dr. Ayew Afriyie, the New Patriotic Party (NPP) Member of Parliament for Effiduase Asokore, has accused the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) of orchestrating the importation of foreign nationals to engage in illegal mining, known as galamsey.
According to the MP, this illegal activity has significantly contributed to the pollution of Ghana’s water bodies and is a politically motivated scheme designed to undermine the NPP’s popularity ahead of the 2024 elections.
Speaking at the launch of the Bawumia Volunteers 2024 (B24) campaign in Kumasi, Dr. Afriyie alleged that the NDC’s deliberate introduction of foreign miners into Ghana’s forests and rivers was aimed at creating environmental destruction, ultimately forcing the government to halt galamsey, a move he suggested could hurt the NPP’s standing in mining constituencies.
“The NDC saw that we [NPP] were winning the seats in the mining areas, so they decided to go and import foreigners to engage in illegal mining on our water bodies,” Dr. Afriyie claimed. “The whole water bodies have not been a problem until now, it just started one month ago. It is someone behind that to force the NPP government to stop galamsey so that we will lose the seats.”
The MP further criticized calls for an immediate ban on galamsey, asserting that the NPP government has no plans to do so in the near future. He argued that banning illegal mining at this point could jeopardize the party’s hold on parliamentary seats in mining areas.
“We won’t stop them [galamseyers] today or tomorrow,” Dr. Afriyie emphasized, maintaining that the country’s water bodies were clean until foreign miners allegedly brought in by the NDC began to degrade these essential resources.
He also expressed frustration with the media’s coverage of galamsey, suggesting that the NDC was using journalists to pressure the government into banning the practice.
“Then they take their journalists to talk about it. Is galamsey done in Accra? They should come to Kumasi to demonstrate against galamsey; like they will see,” he said.