Sam George: "Unfair" to expect President Mahama to end galamsey in 96 days

The Minister for Communications, Digital Technology and Innovations, Sam Nartey George, has said it would be "unfair" to expect President John Mahama to completely resolve the issue of illegal mining, popularly known as galamsey, within just 96 days in office.

Speaking during an interview on Channel One TV on Monday, April 14, the Minister noted that while steps are being taken to tackle illegal mining, it is unrealistic to expect full resolution of a problem that has persisted for nearly a decade.

He added that it would be unreasonable to expect President Mahama to fix the deep-rooted issues of galamsey in a matter of weeks when the previous administration had eight years to address it but failed.

Mr George was responding to questions about his own past remarks regarding illegal mining. During the tenure of former President Akufo-Addo, he had stated that "the President at the time, (former President Akufo-Addo) could have dealt with galamsey in a week because he was Commander-in-Chief."

Addressing the apparent contradiction, he clarified: "When I made those comments about President Akufo-Addo, I didn't make those comments at the beginning of his term. I made those comments about three months to the end of his term and he had the opportunity, he had expended taxpayers’ money in Operation Vanguard and you rather seen instances of the people who were supposed to fight this, becoming complicit in it. At the time I made that criticism of President Akufo-Addo, he had had the benefit of almost eight years in office, a full grasp of the state machinery, had the opportunity to take action."

The Minister highlighted that in just 60 days of President Mahama’s return to office, seven forest reserves had already been recovered from illegal miners.

"Can we do more? Absolutely. Do I expect to see more? Certainly. But again, like I said, it will be unfair to expect that in 90 days, one man will clean the mess of another for eight years," he stressed.

Mr George stated that he regarded galamsey as a crime against humanity and emphasised that, regardless of which political party is in power—be it the NDC or the NPP—and irrespective of who is involved in the activity, illegal mining remains unlawful and should be addressed in a comprehensive and non-partisan manner.