{"id":341280,"date":"2025-05-08T21:02:18","date_gmt":"2025-05-08T21:02:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2025\/05\/08\/akufo-addo-govt-approved-galamsey-that-ravaged-forests-water-bodies-gbande\/"},"modified":"2025-05-08T21:02:18","modified_gmt":"2025-05-08T21:02:18","slug":"akufo-addo-govt-approved-galamsey-that-ravaged-forests-water-bodies-gbande","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2025\/05\/08\/akufo-addo-govt-approved-galamsey-that-ravaged-forests-water-bodies-gbande\/","title":{"rendered":"Akufo-Addo Govt approved galamsey that ravaged forests, water bodies \u2013 Gbande"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>Deputy General Secretary of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Mustapha Gbande, has launched a scathing attack on the Akufo-Addo administration, accusing it of deliberately enabling the widespread destruction of Ghana\u2019s forest reserves and water bodies through reckless issuance of mining leases and regulatory failure.<\/p>\n<p>Speaking on<em> Citi<\/em> <em>Eyewitness News<\/em> on Thursday, May 8, Gbande claimed that over 2,000 mining leases were granted under the former government without proper oversight, leading to extensive environmental damage.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe all know that the cumulative degradation of our forest reserves and water bodies was supervised, incentivized, granted, and approved by President Akufo-Addo and his Minister for Lands, with the involvement of his appointees,\u201d he alleged.<\/p>\n<p>According to him, the institutions responsible for environmental regulation\u2014the Minerals Commission, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources\u2014failed to monitor and control mining operations under Akufo-Addo\u2019s watch.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou have a responsibility through these institutions to supervise the mining activity\u2014they couldn\u2019t do that,\u201d he stressed.<\/p>\n<p>Gbande contrasted the past inaction with the current administration\u2019s efforts, applauding the aggressive clampdown on illegal mining activities in just four months under President John Dramani Mahama.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf we have come, and within four months you have seen the aggression with which the military, the police, and infact national security are combatting mining-related crime, then it tells you who\u2019s serious about saving Ghana\u2019s environment,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Deputy General Secretary of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Mustapha Gbande, has launched a scathing attack on the Akufo-Addo administration, accusing it of deliberately enabling the widespread destruction of Ghana\u2019s forest reserves and water bodies through reckless issuance of mining leases and regulatory failure. Speaking on Citi Eyewitness News on Thursday, May 8, Gbande claimed [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":341281,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-341280","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-top-news"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Akufo-Addo Govt approved galamsey that ravaged forests, water bodies \u2013 Gbande - Ghanamma.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2025\/05\/08\/akufo-addo-govt-approved-galamsey-that-ravaged-forests-water-bodies-gbande\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Akufo-Addo Govt approved galamsey that ravaged forests, water bodies \u2013 Gbande - Ghanamma.com\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Deputy General Secretary of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Mustapha Gbande, has launched a scathing attack on the Akufo-Addo administration, accusing it of deliberately enabling the widespread destruction of Ghana\u2019s forest reserves and water bodies through reckless issuance of mining leases and regulatory failure. 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