Ranking Member on Parliamentary Select Committee on Lands and Forestry who is also the Africa Envoy on climate change, Dr Rashid Pelpuo, has accused Government officials of being guilty of illegal mining.
The MP for Wa Central who also doubles as the President of African Parliamentarians Forum on population and development, said, “from our end as opposition members of Parliament in the struggle to save our lands from willful destruction in the name of hunting for Gold, we have strong belief that the NPP government under Nana Addo has never been serious with needed commitment to save our lands from illegal mining practices”.
Addressing news conference in Parliament on March 16, 2023, the MP mentioned that, the utterances of the Former Minister of Environment, Science, Technology and innovation is reflecting the true state of affairs, adding that, the chickens have come home to roost.
“…from the mouth of the former Minister of Environment, Dr Frimpong Boateng, Government officials even from the Presidency are neck deep in this discredited enterprise of polluting our waters and stealing our gold from irresponsible illegals”.
“To quote him ‘People in government including Jubilee House are involved in galamsey’ – Dr. Frimpong-Boateng.
The conference was intended to reach the people of Ghana to draw their attention to “the painful fact that the President’s assurance of commitment to protecting our lands from illegal mining popularly called galamsey is false.
“In addition to borrowing irresponsibly to wreck the sanity of the economy they impudently are also destroying our land with government officials brazenly taking an active part in it,” he stated.
He used the press conference to call on the government to investigate the allegations made by the Former Minister…,
“It is also our expectation that government must desist from joining huge illegal migrants and the many unpatriotic Ghanaians from mining illegally on our land. The practice damp dangerous waste in our waters and pretending to be protecting our lands and the people”.
By Edzorna Francis Mensah