Akufo-Addo failed in the fight of Galamsey – NDC

General News of Tuesday, April 23, 2019

Source: 3news.com

2019-04-23

The National Democratic Congress (NDC) states that it is clear that President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo's fight against illegal mining is in a final state of "flagrant" defeat.

The party therefore calls for a recast of the Interministerial Committee Against Illegal Mining (IMCIM) and a review of the fight started in 2017 when the government in office took office.

Sammy Gyamfi, National Communications Officer, made the statement at the 4th session of the Moment of Truth in Accra on Tuesday, April 23.

The session was devoted to the government's fight against chancre, in the face of recent statements by Prime Minister Yaw Osafo-Marfo on the halting of the trial of Chinese mining leader Aisha Huang.

Sammy Gyamfi was also concerned that officials caught on tape taking bribes in a documentary produced by investigative journalist Anas Aremeyaw Anas appear to have been left behind.

"In these circumstances, we are asking the President to reform the Interministerial Committee Against Illegal Mining and to urgently review its approach to combating illegal mining.

"It's time for President Akufo-Addo to rise above his soft but hollow rhetoric and start talking. He must show genuine commitment and dedication in the fight against illegal mining.

"We are urgently urging it to eliminate and reserve all corrupt officials such as Charles Bissue who have compromised our collective struggle against illegal mining."

Here is Sammy Gyamfi's full speech:

PRESS CONFERENCE A MOMENT OF TRUTH ADDRESSED BY THE NATIONAL COMMUNICATIONS AGENCY OF THE NATIONAL DEMOCRATIC CONGRESS (NDC) AT THE NDC HEADQUARTERS, TUESDAY, APRIL 23, 2019.

"The failure of Akufo-Addo's fight against Galamsey is a monumental betrayal of the trust of the people of Ghana."

Good morning ladies and gentlemen journalists. I have the great honor of welcoming you to today's meeting, which is part of our ongoing badessment of the Akufo-Addo Government's performance, through our evidence-based and evidence-based commitments. Moment of truth. Today's edition, the fourth edition, will discuss President Akufo-Addo's unsuccessful and misguided struggle against the illegal mining threat.

Media friends, somewhere last week, Ghanaians woke up with the damning comments contained in a video touring the mainstream and social media. In this video, the high minister of this republic, the Hon. Yaw Osafo-Maafo is heard while he addresses to a party of Ghanaians from abroad, giving false excuses as to why the Akufo-Addo government ended the criminal trial of the famous Chinese queen Galamsey, Aisha Huang, who has been at the center of many illegal mining activities. activities in several regions of this country.

Perhaps the worst Easter gift the Ghanaian people could have wanted from the Akufo-Addo government is this exact quote from our high minister, a man firmly entrenched in President Akufo-Addo's kitchen cupboard:

"… we have very good relations with China. Today, the main company contributing to the development of the infrastructure system in Ghana is Sinohydro, a Chinese company. With this kind of arrangement, there is something else behind the scenes … put this woman [Aisha Huang] in prison in Ghana will not solve your economic problems. It's not going to make us happy or happy, it's not important. "

My friends in the media, treating Mr. Yaw Osafo-Maafo's remarks as an indiscreet act of indiscretion, as some have suggested, is tantamount to missing the crucial question that the minister and the senior government official wanted to argue. The program and the context in which the Prime Minister spoke clearly show that he was expressing the ideas of President Akufo-Addo and his government regarding the interruption of the trial of Aisha Huang.

It can be reasonably inferred from the Prime Minister's remarks that the Akufo-Addo government is at the center of Ghana's bilateral relations with China of an obscene willingness to tolerate mere criminality and flagrant disregard for the laws of our country in exchange for # 39; money. . It's like saying that the Sinohydro affair, a purely commercial transaction, is a free gift from China.

Ladies and Gentlemen, Ghanaians have every reason to be shocked and outraged by these shocking but honest revelations of the inner thinking of the Akufo-Addo-led government. These revelations are shameful, reprehensible, and flout foreign policy and the much vaunted mantra of "Ghana beyond the aid" of the Akufo-Addo government.

With regard to Mr. Osafo-Maafo's subsequent efforts to rationalize the outrageous and insulting confessions, the least that can be said is the best. The ball is already gone and it is too late to stop it.

The Akufo-Addo government wants the Ghanaians to accept the fact that we have left the famous "Queen of Galamsey" Aisha Huang at the shelter, because we risk benefiting from a so-called barter agreement with a Chinese society, Sinohydro. It is clear, therefore, that for President Akufo-Addo and his government, failure to respect our laws and the destruction of our environment is of little importance.

For them, Ghanaians involved in Galamsey may rot in jail, the material may be burned and many may be slaughtered (as suggested in Parliament by 1st Deputy Speaker of Parliament, the Honorable Joe Osei Owusu, sometime ago). However, Chinese nationals have the freedom and encouragement to engage in shameless impunity and get out of it because of the Sinohydro trade transaction.

Ladies and gentlemen, the Akufo-Addo government's decision to exchange our laws, our environment, our resources and our lives against the $ 2 billion Sinohydro deal – which, by the way, is not even a subsidy, barter in exchange for the proceeds of our bauxite, is an insult to our sovereignty and dignity as a people.

Ladies and gentlemen, unlike the shameful and irresponsible government Akufo-Addo, another African country, especially Tanzania, recently sued Yang Fenglan, a Chinese businesswoman dubbed the "queen of ivory", who sentenced him to fifteen years imprisonment for smuggling hundreds of elephant tusks. This is despite the fact that she lived and worked in Tanzania since the 1970s and was vice-president of the China-Africa Trade Council of Tanzania.

Unlike Ghana, Tanzania has chosen not to sacrifice its laws on the altar of its bilateral trade relations with China. Without fear or equivocation, they demolished Yang Fenglan and sent a strong message to the world to let him know that Tanzania was not ready to tolerate non-compliance with its laws by foreign nationals. We argue that, by ending Aisha Huang's lawsuit, Ghana has lost a golden opportunity to decisively deal with the threat of illegal mining in order to deter foreign nationals from flouting our laws on illegal mining. minerals and mines.

Ladies and Gentlemen, it is worth noting that the recent statements by the Chinese Ambbadador to Ghana, His Excellency Mr. Shi Ting Wang, on the threat of illegal mining in Ghana contrast sharply with the condescending comments and despicable of Mr. Yaw Osafo-Marfo. Unlike our High Minister, the Chinese Ambbadador, His Excellency acknowledged the devastating effects of illegal mining activities in our country and promised that China was ready to help fight this chancre.

The ambbadador also deplored the institutional failures that often help some of these illegal Chinese miners in our country, and the lack of communication between our authorities and the Chinese embbady in Accra regarding the repatriation of some of these people. He therefore called for closer collaboration between the two countries in the fight against illegal mining in Ghana.

Certainly, the Chinese government will not be impressed by the bad impression that Osafo Maafo's shameful comments create about them. The inevitable question is why our minister tells the world that Ghana is ready to sell its birthright to China for a ridiculous price. How did we come here?

AKUFO-ADDO MAKES A FIGHT AGAINST "GALAMSEY"

Ladies and gentlemen, Osafo-Maafo's revelations offer us the opportunity to post-mortem President Akufo-Addo's struggle against illegal mining. Without a doubt, the threat of illegal mining is the biggest threat to our environment and the safety of water. This is what led the Media Coalition Against Illegal Mining to declare a national war against canker somewhere in 2017.

President Akufo-Addo would have subscribed to this agenda and badured the nation that he would put his presidency in jeopardy to support this effort. In line with this commitment, President Akufo-Addo created the Interministerial Committee Against Illegal Mining and the Operation Vanguard Task Force to wage a brutal war against illegal mining in all regions of the country to preserve our environment from further destruction.

It should be noted that because of this struggle, the Akufo-Addo government has banned small-scale legal mining for nearly two years. During the process, small Ghanaian miners were slaughtered at their duly authorized mine sites. Many precious lives have been lost over the past two years, including the sad and untimely death of an excellent soldier, Major Maxwell Mahama. In addition, many small miners lost their investments and livelihoods throughout their lives as a result of this struggle.

Many have seen their mining equipment destroyed by a selective and perverse application of the ban on small-scale mining. In addition, many illegal Ghanaian miners (Galamseyers) have been arrested, prosecuted and imprisoned. The country has spent millions of taxpayers' money on the operations of Operation Vanguard and the Interministerial Committee Against Illegal Mining.

Unfortunately, this is where we are today. the fight against illegal mining remains far from being won. In fact, the fight is in the final stages of the flagrant defeat. The reason is obvious: the Akufo-Addo government has never been engaged in this direction.

Anas Aremeyaw Anas recently released a video documentary entitled "Galamsey Fraud", which highlights various corrupt and underhanded transactions by senior Galbsey government officials in the Akufo-Addo government. One of these officials is Mr. Charles Bissue, Secretary of the Interministerial Committee against Illegal Mining (IMCIM) and member of the presidential staff.

Mr. Bissue was filmed receiving bribes and abusing his office to facilitate illegal mining activities. Mr. Andy Owusu, badistant to the NPP regional president for the Ashanti region, Bernard Antwi Bosiako (president Wontumi) also filmed the video. According to Anas, "Galamsey Fraud Documentary", Andy was the main "liaison man" and essentially served as a relay between Mr. Charles Bissue and potential illegal minors.

Unfortunately, despite overwhelming audio-visual evidence of the criminal acts of Charles Bissue and Andy Owusu, President Akufo-Addo has taken no action to punish them. Mr. Bissue continues to walk like a free man and even has the temerity to appear in the functions of the state to the chagrin of Ghanaian around the world. This blatant inertia on the part of the Akufo-Addo government to prosecute Charles Bissue and Andy Owusu for their crime is not only a sufficient testimony of President Akufo-Addo's lack of resolve in the fight against Galamsey and the corruption, but also of the government. a monumental betrayal of trust. Ghanaians.

In addition to these damning revelations, several actors of the Akufo-Addo government have in one way or another compromise the fight against Galamsey, while the president is indifferent. It will be remembered that in 2018, the Minister of Local Government, the Hon. Hajia Alima Mahama has publicly stated that some members of this government's MMDCE were actively engaged in Galamsey and indicated that she would publicly disclose their identities and sanction them. However, to this day, we still do not know the identity of the said MMDCEs of which the minister has spoken and what President Akufo-Addo has done on this subject.

Again, the former Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, the Hon. John Peter Amewu also made a startling observation: members of the Vanguard operation team had been compromised by illegal miners. His comments were later corroborated by the East Regional Minister, the Hon. Eric Daffour.

In addition, the chairman of the Forestry Commission, Kwadwo Owusu Afriyie, recently said that some government leaders were undermining Galamsey's fight and actually helping the return of illegal miners to plunder our forests.

All of this evidence showed that the fight against illegal mining went in the wrong direction, but President Akufo-Addo refused to investigate this information and convict the guilty parties.

Highly characteristic of President Akufo-Addo, a man who speaks a lot and who does very little, the much touted fight against Galamsey has turned out to be another example of empty rhetoric. Today, the Interministerial Committee Against Illegal Mining and Operation Vanguard has become an active means of facilitating and promoting illegal mining. This has multiplied illegal mining activities in the country and intensified the degradation of our forests and our water plans.

CONCLUSION

Ladies and gentlemen, the failure of President Akufo-Addo's fight against Galamsey is no longer disputed. The spectacular failure of the supposed anti-Galamsey struggle underlines what we all know to be the truth, namely that President Akufo-Addo's policies and offers are publicly instituted for self-aggrandizement but constitute in reality a way for the twisted members of his party and his government to cover their pockets by corrupt means.

In these circumstances, we ask the president to reform the Interministerial Committee Against Illegal Mining and urgently review its approach to the fight against illegal mining. The time has come for President Akufo-Addo to go beyond his soft but hollow rhetoric and start talking. He must show genuine commitment and dedication in the fight against illegal mining. We urge it urgently to eliminate and punish all corrupt officials, such as Charles Bissue, who have compromised our collective struggle against illegal mining.

With regard to Osafo-Maafo's scandalous but honest confession, we believe that the Prime Minister only communicated the position of President Akufo-Addo and his government. This is why the government has not yet had the courage to denounce or contradict it. The Akufo-Addo government has amply demonstrated that, like the Esau Bible Bible, the interest of the Ghanaian population mattered little in immediate gratification.

Despite what he said about the next generation rather than the next election, all that matters to Akufo-Addo is to get money at all costs to carry out some projects that hopefully -the, will help them win the 2020 elections. However, we know without a doubt, the Ghanaian people will punish President Akufo-Addo for this monumental betrayal of our trust and our mandate.

Thank you for your attention and may God make our nation great and strong.

Sign,

SAMMY GYAMFI

National Communication Officer, NDC