Editor of online news portal, WhatsUp News, David Tamakloe, says the inefficiencies and corruption in Ghana has turned the country into a crime scene.
According to him, the fight against galamsey has become a lost cause despite the many initiatives started by past and present governments, leading to a rise in the menace and its associated crimes.
Ghana’s tradition of artisanal gold mining and the gold price boom which began in 2007 led tens of thousands of Chinese migrants to seek their fortunes in Ghana.
Bringing heavy machinery, illegal Chinese gold miners precipitated economic and social instability as well as increases in gun violence, drug trafficking and corruption
Ghana is working hard to fight against illegal mining – or galamsey – but widespread corruption has hamstrung government efforts.
Addressing the influx of Chinese nationals into Ghana and their involvement in galamsey thereof, he said, “I think Ghana has become a crime scene and it is so because of our inefficiencies as a people and that of the government, corruption and what have you. Galamsey has been with us all this while and is affecting our water bodies and that is bad.”
In an interview with Samuel Eshun on the Happy Morning Show, he disclosed how in 2014, former President Mahama set up a committee to fight the galamsey menace together with stakeholders but failed.
” Between 2015 and 2016, we all know how Chairman Wontumi was arrested in connection to bringing some Chinese to Ghana and how he acquired passports for them. In 2016, President Akufo-Addo at a campaign rally said he wasn’t going to stop people engaged in galamsey and this emboldened them,” he added.
David Tamakloe indicated that although President Akufo-Addo tackled the menace after assuming office, he still failed, blaming the failure on indiscipline, corruption and failure to prosecute to deter others from engaging in similar acts
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