Majority Leader, Alexander Afenyo-Markin, has warned Minority Leader, Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson, against blaming illegal mining, commonly referred to as galamsey on a political party.
This remark was prompted by Forson’s criticism of the government’s alleged lack of commitment to addressing the galamsey crisis.
During his speech in Parliament on October 15, Afenyo-Markin highlighted that the problem cannot be solely blamed on the Akufo-Addo administration, as it existed before his time in office.
“We cannot, as a political class blame game on galamsey and say a particular political party – in this case, the Akufo-Addo administration has failed in its fight against galamsey and leave out what happened preceding the administration of Akufo-Addo,” he said.
Mr Afenyo-Markin cited an example from 2015, during the Mahama administration, when then-Finance Minister Seth Terkper appeared before Parliament’s Finance Committee and warned about the negative impact of galamsey on the cocoa sector.
“He [Terkper] highlighted how galamsey was destroying cocoa farms, and farmers were cutting down their cocoa trees to engage in illegal mining activities,” Afenyo-Markin recalled.