NAPO Dismisses Calls For Shoot-And-Kill Approach To Dealing With Galamsey
- The New Patriotic Party (NPP) running mate, Dr Matthew Opoku Prempeh, has rubbished calls for the shooting and killing of illegal miners
- NAPO said such a suggestion is inhumane and inappropriate and should not be considered a solution to the problem
- He has rather suggested the reinstitution of community mining programmes in mining communities nationwide to ensure responsible mining
The New Patriotic Party (NPP) running mate, Dr Matthew Opoku Prempeh, has dismissed calls for the shooting and killing of people engaged in illegal mining.
NAPO said the suggestion cannot be seen as a panacea for addressing the galamsey menace in the country.
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In a video that has since gone viral, NAPO said the opposition National Democratic Congress is being hypocritical about their stance on the galamsey menace.
He said their support for a shoot-and-kill tactic to end galamsey is inhumane and inappropriate and runs contrary to earlier promises they made to mining communities to free galamsey miners who the ruling government had arrested.
He said the NPP government will not support such a brutal approach.
He said a future NPP government would rather reinstitute the community mining programme in mining communities nationwide and ensure that the rules and regulations are strictly adhered to.
NAPO said God placed the gold under the ground to be mined, but the process of mining must be well-regulated to prevent the kind of destruction the country is witnessing.
“What we don’t like is for someone to mine on the water bodies because if we don’t get water to drink, we will die as a nation,” NAPO stated.
Agyinasare blasts chiefs and politicians over galamsey
Earlier, Dr Agyinasare expressed concern about the involvement of chiefs and politicians in the illegal mining menace.
He said the chiefs and politicians have prioritised short-term financial gains over the long-term health of the environment and community welfare, undermining the efforts to combat the crime.
Drawing parallels between the Ghanaian situation and other developed economies, he said the greed of chiefs and other politicians has prevented them from taking the necessary actions to stop the practice.
He added that the politicians love money more than the people.
“Our chiefs – some of our chiefs and some of our politicians – love the money more than the people.”
According to him, the dire situation of the menace demands that Ghanaians speak up against it and raise awareness about its impact on the environment and human lives to push the government to act.
NDC suggests solution to galamsey
YEN.com.gh reported that Sammy Gyamfi, the National Communications Officer of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), said the only way to rid Ghana of galamsey is to vote out the NPP.
He said while the NPP did not cause the galamsey problem, the menace has seen a significant surge during their tenure.
He said the surge is due to the involvement of top government officials and other politically exposed persons in the crime.
Proofread by Edwina N.K Quarcoo, journalist and copy editor at YEN.com.gh.
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Source: YEN.com.gh
