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In a video shared on X from Adom TV’s Badwam Show, Mr. Titus-Glover stated that it is the members of the party who are impeding the progress of the fight against illegal mining (galamsey). According to him, the inaction by the District, Municipal, and Metropolitan Security Councils gives the miners the leverage to cause destruction.
“It is our own people who are making the job difficult. My own NPP folks. Why? Do you think I am afraid to speak up? It is a fact that it’s the party members who are impeding the fight against galamsey. We have said don’t go to the water bodies to mine. Soldiers would patrol on water bodies to keep off illegal miners. When they leave, what do the District Security Councils do? Regional Security Council…what do you also do? So every time soldiers have to move from Accra to these areas. It doesn’t help us.
That is why the president said that if you are an MMDCE and there are galamsey activities going on in your area, he’d have an issue with you,” he stated.
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Growing calls on the government to clamp down on galamsey
Following the exacerbating impact of galamsey activities on the environment, especially water bodies and forests, the government has come under intense pressure to take action against the operations of illegal small-scale miners whose activities have affected 34 of the country’s 288 forest reserves and left river bodies churning with turbidity levels hovering well above 14,000 MTUs.
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River Pra destroyed by galamsey
The calls continue to grow as more protests are being organised by organisations for the government to take swift action, following the arrest of some Democracy Hub Protestors who were remanded into police and prison custody for two weeks.
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Anti-Galamsey Protests
As the pressure on the government surges, Ghana’s biggest labour front, Organised Labour, is demanding that President Akufo-Addo deploys security forces to clamp down on illegal miners and repeal L.I. 2462, which permits the granting of licences for mining in forest reserves, with a threat to embark on a nationwide strike planned to commence on 10 October 2024 if the government fails to grant their demands.