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He said government’s interest in fighting the menace was one of the main reasons that the New Patriotic Party’s (NPP) votes dropped.
“I hear people ask how come your margin dropped from 900 thousand to 500 thousand?” the Minister said on Joy News.
“We (NPP) are clear in our minds that the fight against galamsey is one of the reasons, if you look at the returns for many of the galamsey areas, they voted heavily against the president and his candidates because at the same time, while even internal party persons were sabotaging the fight, you also have people on the other side of the political device.”
READ ALSO: 3 JHS pupils die after drowning in abandoned galamsey pit
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Information Minister, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah
In 2017, the Akufo-Addo government waged a war on illegal mining activities, locally known as galamsey, and placed a temporal ban on small-scale mining.
The Operation Vanguard taskforce was subsequently set up to guard the various illegal mining sites.
The Ministry of Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation later set up a Galamstop taskforce to support the Operation Vanguard team in fighting illegal mining.
However, recent reports indicate that illegal mining activities are still ongoing in some parts of the country.
Mr. Oppong Nkrumah said the President has become a victim of fighting against illegal mining activities.
“President Akufo-Addo has himself been a victim of this fight against galamsey. The reality is that there are so many people internally and externally involved in this galamsey who end up fighting any president who desires to do a good job at it,” the Information Minister added.