Galamsey fight: ‘Akufo-Addo has let Ghanaians down’ — Atik Mohammed

Atik Mohammed, former PNC General Secretary

Former People's National Convention (PNC) General Secretary Atik Mohammed has accused President Nana Akufo-Addo of letting Ghanaians down in the fight against illegal small-scale mining, popularly known as galamsey.

Speaking on Peace FM's morning show "Kokrokoo", Atik Mohammed slammed the President's lack of commitment to combating the menace of galamsey ravaging Ghana's water bodies and forests.

"For the life of me, I cannot just understand it to say that the fight against galamsey, we have lost it. How is that possible? We have every and anything it takes to win that fight but I can't understand why we can't. It's because we are pretending to be fighting this galamsey when indeed we are not doing anything," Atik Mohammed said.

He disputed the President's claims that the country is making progress in fighting galamsey.

“We know the sources of galamsey. We know the people involved in galamsey and if the President really and truly is committed to fighting this canker, he knows what to do," the former PNC scribe stated.

Atik Mohammed further expressed that "I feel the President has let us down" in the fight against illegal mining, which continues to cause irreparable harm to Ghana's environment and water bodies despite the government's purported efforts.

His criticism comes amid widespread public criticism of the Akufo-Addo administration's failure to curb the galamsey menace over the last seven years despite his initial promise of putting his presidency on the line to save the country's natural resources.