The African Centre for Parliamentary Affairs (ACEPA) has expressed disappointment in the Ninth Parliament over what it describes as its weak role in the fight against illegal mining, popularly known as galamsey.
According to ACEPA, Parliament failed to give sustained attention to the galamsey menace, despite its devastating impact on the country’s environment, water bodies, and livelihoods.
Speaking in an interview with Citi News, the Executive Director of ACEPA, Dr Rasheed Draman, said he had expected Parliament to make the fight against galamsey a top priority and a daily subject of debate until concrete action was taken.
“What many Ghanaians were expecting was that this Parliament would consistently focus on galamsey and discuss it daily until we saw action. Galamsey is destroying all of us, including Members of Parliament and the people they represent. On that score, Parliament has woefully failed Ghanaians,” he said.
Dr Draman further expressed concern over allegations linking some Members of Parliament to illegal mining activities, describing the situation as deeply troubling.
“What galamsey is doing to this country is frightening. I don’t know how Ghana will look in the next 10 to 15 years if this continues. If there is one issue this Ninth Parliament should be most worried about, it is galamsey. When history is written, they will bear the first and ultimate responsibility for fixing this problem,” he stressed.
He lamented what he described as the lack of robust debate and critical scrutiny of government policies, attributing it partly to the overwhelming majority in Parliament.
“Apart from occasional debates, we did not see the kind of vibrant discussions and policy challenges we witnessed in the Eighth Parliament, particularly during budget debates. I had hoped the majority would challenge itself and force the government to reconsider certain assumptions and policies, but that did not happen,” he added.
Dr Draman observed that the failure to sustain pressure on the government over galamsey represents a major downside of the Ninth Parliament’s first year.