The Minister for Lands and Natural Resources, Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah, has hit back at political critics over the government’s handling of the illegal mining (galamsey) crisis.

He accused them of bearing direct responsibility for the environmental degradation the current government is working to reverse.

Appearing on GTV’s Breakfast Show on Wednesday, September 24, the Minister pointed to a legacy of mismanagement and reckless licensing under the previous administration.

“Those political apparatchiks who have caused the damage that we are trying to solve, they should really give us some break, and they should give us some room,” he said.

He alleged that nearly 27,000 mining licences were issued under the previous government a figure he described as “unprecedented in the history of this country” which he claims enabled political operatives to exploit Ghana’s forests, leading to widespread destruction.

“These are the people who have given almost 27,000 licences… to political operatives to open the floodgates of our forest to be destroyed,” the Minister said.

While acknowledging the urgency of the situation, the Minister was clear that reversing years of damage is not a task that can be completed overnight.

“The level of destruction that this new government came to meet we are under no illusion that this is going to be solved in eight months,” he said. “But we are proud of what we are doing, we are seeing the progress, and every time we believe we have to strengthen what we are doing, we do.”

He added that the government remains open to constructive criticism and is willing to do more, but drew a sharp distinction between well-meaning calls for action and what he described as politically motivated attacks.

“We believe those who are really calling for the government to do more we understand. This is a listening government, we are going to do more and we appreciate it.”

However, he reiterated that criticism from those who, in his view, enabled the crisis lacks credibility and should be taken with caution.

“They should really give us some break and they should give us some room,” he repeated.