The Flagbearer of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), John Mahama has said he will surely grant amnesty to convicted small-scale miners, popularly known as galamseyers.
Mr Mahama questioned why the Akufo Addo government set free Chinese galamsey queen Aisha Hunag but rather has imprisoned poor citizens of the country.
“Our youths have been imprisoned for their involvement in galamsey. It’s surprising that a Chinese national and galamsey queen was arrested for the same crime and later freed and repatriated to her country. This is unacceptable, and I’ll ensure that if I come back to power, those convicted of galamsey would be granted amnesty,” the former President told locals at Adum Banso in the Mpohor Constituency of the Western Region when he addressed a durbar of chiefs and people of the area.
He assured of making everything within his effort to get galamsey operators back to the fields to work in a more controlled environment as captured in their People’s manifesto.
He has also promised to fix the deplorable roads in the area. It would be recalled that President Akufo Addo cut sod for the construction of the Kejebil- Mpohor Adum Banso road in May 2018 but little has been seen.
The Mpohor constituency is known for galamsey operations. Deep in the forest, along the Pra River, these illegal miners undertake their alluvial mining, and thus damaging aquatic life.
Over the past year, hundreds have been arrested by the District Anti-galamsey Taskforce, yet the illegal activity persists.
Source:Ghana/Kasapafmonline.com/102.5 Fm
