Minority Leader and Member of Parliament for Effutu, Alexander Afenyo-Markin, has expressed concern over what he describes as the growing politicisation of Ghana’s fight against illegal gold mining, popularly known as galamsey.
Speaking at a seminar organised by the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA) on Ghana’s natural resource management regime on Tuesday, Afenyo-Markin said the political blame game between the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and the National Democratic Congress (NDC) is derailing genuine efforts to address the menace.
“During the 2020 campaign, the message was that they [NPP] came to take your food away, so vote against them.
“And the debate kept going to where we are. If we do the blame game thing, we will not get anywhere,” he lamented.
He urged political leaders and citizens alike to adopt a more unified and patriotic approach to tackling the issue, stressing that the problem goes beyond partisan boundaries.
“I think it goes beyond the NPP, NDC arguments. I think as a nation, we need a whole national orientation,” he said.
Afenyo-Markin further admitted that successive governments and citizens have collectively failed to protect the country’s natural resources.
“Frankly speaking, I think we all failed our nation. We have to let the authorities know that we have no other alternatives; this must stop,” he emphasised.
