Galamsey taskforce members must swear to Antoa – Abronye DC

Members of the government’s taskforce tasked to end the galamsey menace in the country must be forced to swear with the dreaded Antoa Nyamaa deity before being commissioned to fight the menace, a communicator of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) has said.

Kwame Baffoe, known as ‘Abronye DC’ speaking on Adom FM’s Morning FM’s Morning Show, ‘Dwaso Nsem’ Monday morning said this is necessary if the government is to succeed in the fight against the menace.

“The taskforce to fight galamsey must be forced to go to Antoa and swear by the deity that they will work with all the commitment needed to fight the menace…,” he said.

The government has stepped up its effort in the fight against illegal mining in the country following major concerns against the menace, raised by various Civil Society groups and the media.

The media has been at the forefront of media advocacy and crusade for action against the illegal activity.

The efforts have yielded some positive results including a moratorium on the issuance of new licenses for small-scale mining.

The government has said it is focused on ensuring that the menace is fully addressed the sector properly fragmented to ensure that mining in the country is done in accordance with the law.

Commenting on this, Kwame Baffoe said the setting up of the taskforce in order but warned that the members must be forced to ‘curse themselves’ with Antoa to show their readiness to complement government’s efforts at tackling the effort.

This, he said is necessary because some members of the taskforce established by the previous Mahama administration, he alleged accepted bribes and became richer overnight.

Kwame Baffoe also said that the President is unfazed by threats to vote against it if it continue its fight against the menace.

“When it comes to the galamsey fight, Nana Addo is ready to deal with it and will do it once and for all. We didn’t mount the platform to tell Ghanaians we will legalise galamsey during the 2016 election. We are concerned about the water bodies and Nana Addo won’t allow anyone to destroy our environment,” he said.

President Akufo-Addo, he added, is prepared to sacrifice the interest of the few illegal miners for the good of the many who are suffering from the pollution of water bodies that come with it.