The New Patriotic Party (NPP) says the National Democratic Congress (NDC) should be the last political party to complain about the âgalamseyâ menace.
It said the NDC did little about the canker when it was in power.
In a press statement issued on Friday, the Deputy Director of Communications of the party, Ernest Kofi Owusu Bempah said NDCâs âtrack record in the fight against the âgalamseyâ menace is horrible.â
According to him, the NDC is adding its voice to the ongoing conversation around the menace to score political points.
As a result, Mr. Owusu Bempah asked Ghanaians to ignore them.
âWe are talking about a party that shamelessly launched the Youth in Small Scale Mining programme in the Eastern Region, which apparently opened the floodgates for âgalamseyâ.â
âOf course, the âgalamseyâ situation got so bad under Mahama in 2015, such that he had to hang his shame on the people of Kyebi, tagging the place as the headquarters of âgalamseyâ in the country.â
He further accused the NDC of enabling notorious âgalamseyâ kingpin, Aisha Huang to thrive in Ghana.
âFor those that may have missed this; the erstwhile Mahama government issued an infinite resident permit to Aisha Huang.â
âPrecisely on 28th March 2015, Aisha Huang was given an indefinite resident permit to live here in perpetuity and to engage in her illegal activities. This happened under the Mahama administration. Meanwhile, she was unsuccessful in getting the permit during the President Kufour era.â
âSo you see, any dastardly attempt by the NDC to rationalize the political economy of galamsay must be roundedly condemned. It is beyond dispute that under John Mahama-led government, the national record of the deleterious impact of âgalamseyâ left a lot to be desired. It was simply unprecedented.â
The NDC had accused President Akufo-Addo of faking his efforts to combat illegal mining in the country.
Addressing a press conference on Thursday, Sammy Gyamfi said that the Presidentâs fight against âgalamseyâ is a âcomplete 419 scamâ.
This, according to him, is because âthe Akufo-Addo/Bawumia/NPP government has not exhibited any genuine commitment to the fight against âgalamseyâ. And that their so-called fight against âgalamseyâ is nothing but a scam.â
Mr. Gyamfi asked Ghanaians not to take the Presidentâs resolve seriously.
However, the NPP believes the NDC lost its right to speak on the matter long ago as it failed to deal with the canker when it was in power.