A former Chief of Staff under the Kufuor administration, Kwadwo Mpiani, has urged the government to address the issue of illegal mining, commonly known as galamsey head-on without focusing on the political consequences.

Mr Mpiani stressed that the focus should be on finding a solution rather than worrying about potential political consequences, such as losing parliamentary seats.

Speaking in an interview on Joy FM’s Midday News on Wednesday, October 2, he said “Find a solution to the problem and forget the partisanship of losing seats. If you take the whole country where this illegal mining is ongoing, how many seats did the government lose?”

His comments came in response to statements made by Dr Ayew Afriyie, a New Patriotic Party (NPP) Member of Parliament for Effiduase Asokore and Chairman of Parliament’s Health Committee.

Read also: We won’t ban galamsey today or tomorrow – NPP MP Ayew Afriyie

Dr Afriyie had earlier stated that the government has no intention of banning illegal mining due to the political risks it could pose, particularly in constituencies where the mining industry is vital for livelihoods.

Mr Mpiani disagreed with this approach, noting that losing seats in an election is less important than safeguarding the lives and well-being of citizens.

He pointed out that winning elections would be meaningless if there were no people left to serve due to the negative impact of illegal mining on the environment and public health.

He advised the government to find a solution to the galamsey issue and not be deterred by potential political losses.

“If you want to prove to me that you lost seats because of that, my advice will be to find a way out of the solution,” he advised.