Spokesperson for Dr Mahamadu Bawumia, former presidential candidate of the New Patriotic Party(NPP), Miracles Dennis Aboagye has urged the government of President John Mahama to take decisive steps to tackle the menace of illegal mining ( galamsey) rather than engage in public relations gimmicks and gaslighting of the Ghanaian people.
Mr Aboagye noted that the whole Ghanaian population is behind the President and his government in the fight against galamsey and they must take immediate action to stem the tide of galamsey.
“If the President is watching, or anybody responsible is watching, they should freeze and pause all the PR attempts and confront the issues. We are in a deep crisis,” he appealed on JoyNews’ Newsfile programme today[ Saturday, October 4, 2025).
Mr Aboagye was firm in his belief that the whole Ghanaian populace is in support of the President and his government’s resolve to end galamsey, urging them to do the needful.
“Right now, the entire country is ready to rally behind them. And the last thing we want is gaslighting and PR and telling us everything is fine when we know everything is not fine,” he lamented.
His comment stem from the government’s interaction with civil society organisations on the way forward in the fight against galamsey early this week.
He accused the government of fueling illegal mining by providing a ready market for galamsey gold through the operations of the Ghana Gold Board( Goldbod) which, he alleged, purchases gold from illegal miners.
“Stop buying the gold from the galamseyers because you are enabling galamsey if you are providing an already ready market for them. I thought the Goldboard was actually going to make it difficult for illegal gold to be sold.
Rather, today in Ghana, gold sales are easier than they were in the past, because you have agents working in the villages now and picking up gold for the government,” he added.
The government has come under criticism from a section of the Ghanaian populace for failing to declare a state of emergency so as to tackle the galamsey menace. But the government has defended its record in the fight, noting that noticeable progress is being made.
