The National President of the University Teachers Association of Ghana (UTAG), Prof. Mamudu Akudugu, has questioned the basis on which the Chinese Ambassador to Ghana, H.E. Tong Defa, made his controversial statement regarding the illegal mining (galamsey) menace.
Prof. Akudugu argued that there are many foreigners in Ghana, not just Chinese nationals, and that the Ambassador should rather be concerned about why his people are frequently associated with galamsey.
“The Chinese Ambassador is completely wrong to be crying victim instead of advising his people not to engage in illegal activities,” he said.
The member of the Ghana Coalition Against Galamsey (GCAG) made these remarks during an interview on Adom FM’s Dwaso Nsem.
“It is not only Chinese who are in Ghana; we have different nationals. So why do we always associate Chinese with galamsey? That is what the Ambassador should be asking himself.
“How many nationalities are always arrested when galamsey sites are raided? My response to him is that Chinese are complicit and come to do illegal activities like galamsey in Ghana. That is why they are always mentioned and arrested,” he stated.
Speaking at a media interaction in Accra on Thursday, June 19, the Ambassador suggested that Ghanaians are primarily to blame for facilitating galamsey, adding that the practice might be impossible to eliminate.
Reacting to this, Prof. Akudugu emphasised that the statement should be a wake-up call to Ghanaian authorities to put in place stringent measures to tackle the illegality.
“The Ambassador’s comment is a challenge to our authorities to exude their power and do more. We believe that galamsey can end when the right steps are taken.
“We have made some proposals, and we believe that if government follows through, we can stop galamsey because it is about responsible mining—not stopping mining altogether. We can transform galamsey into something more sustainable and responsible,” he noted.
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