President of the University Teachers Association of Ghana (UTAG) at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), Prof. Eric Abavare has asserted that only the President of Ghana has the authority to effectively end illegal mining, commonly known as galamsey.
According to Prof. Abavare, “The President possesses the necessary power to halt these illegal activities if he chooses to do so.”
He expressed frustration over the lack of decisive action, despite numerous discussions and concerns raised about illegal mining in the country.
In an interview, Prof. Abavare suggested that the President has remained silent on the issue due to potential political advantages noting, “In all the deliberations, this man has refused even to comment on the galamsey. And I want to state again on record that I, once upon a time, planning issues of Dr. Frimpong Manso, the then Minister of Environment, was ceasing people’s excavators and things.”
”The President has all the powers to stop the galamsey if he wants to. The point is that he doesn’t want to attack them; he has all it takes to stop the galamsey now. The point is that he doesn’t want to; he doesn’t want to work for political experiences.”
Prof. Abavare also argued that demonstrations alone are not a viable solution to the problem, instead, he stressed that the President should issue clear directives to end illegal mining activities.
“Demonstration is not the answer. Because for me, when we started the demonstration, we have had several demonstrations. We have seen the president himself organize the most of the mammoth demonstrations. What we do is what we do. We know the solution.”
”And we don’t want to do it. So what can you do? The solution is simple. If the president really wants to stop galamsey, he should just say, going forward, I do not want to see any earth-moving machine on our roads anywhere.”
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Source: Goodness Takor & Deborah Kwapong/ATLFMNEWS
