NPP regularized galamsey; some officials were involved — Dr Rashid Tanko

Dr. Rashid Tanko, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Ghana Investment Fund for Electronic Communications (GIFEC), has accused the former NPP government of enabling and regularizing illegal mining activities, popularly known as galamsey.

He claimed the government, under the leadership of former President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, legitimized illegal mining operations that have caused severe environmental degradation.

Speaking on Accra-based Channel One TV on Tuesday, April 15, the Deputy Director of Elections for the NDC alleged that some regional executives of the NPP were directly involved in the galamsey trade.

“Unlike our former administration, they were doing it — they even regularized this thing to the extent that the national chairman, regional chairman, ministers, they all regularized it. It was all over the place,” the NDC stalwart said.

He also accused former President Akufo-Addo of publicly defending Akonta Mining, a company owned by NPP Ashanti Regional Chairman, Bernard Antwi Bosiako, which was widely accused of engaging in illegal mining.

“You know, the President is even on record defending Akonta Mining. And if the President defends something illegal, it becomes normalized. He is the Head of State. Imagine a president defending an illegality,” Dr. Tanko added.

He further praised the establishment of the Ghana Gold Board, noting that the statutory body will help maximize value from Ghana’s gold resources.

“They [Ghana Gold Board] are doing a fantastic job for Ghana. What we are doing now is to regulate the gold business so that Ghanaians will benefit from the fruit of their labour.

“The gold is meant for the good people of Ghana. Let’s have a regulatory body that can deal with it and make sure we sanitize the gold business in Ghana so it doesn’t become so erratic,” he said.