The Deputy General Secretary of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Mustapha Gbande, has dismissed the New Patriotic Party’s (NPP) criticisms of the government, stating that the party is only seeking to project failure onto the NDC because of its shortcomings in governance.

Speaking on JoyNews' The Pulse, on Wednesday, March 26, Mr Gbande argued that the NPP’s accusations on the NDC government's fight against illegal mining lacked substance and were merely attempts to deflect from their failures between 2016 and 2024.

He was responding to a press conference held by the NPP’s Communications Director, Richard Ahiagbah, on Wednesday, March 26, on the government's efforts to fight against illegal mining locally known as galamsey.

“You, as much as I do, know there was nothing of substance in what they said. The NPP believes that because they have failed as a government, the NDC should also fail.

"But what they don’t realise is that, at the end of the day, we have a country to build and people to take care of. The mere fact that they failed doesn’t mean we will also fail,” he stated.

Mr Gbande acknowledged that Ghanaians expect a firm government policy to combat galamsey, but insisted that the issue was not exclusive to one political party.

“This happened under President Akufo-Addo, and it’s happening under President Mahama,” he said.

"Very soon, the NPP will cry foul and we will respond to their call with evidence to show that in the forest reserve, the people who have gained appetite to mine in the forest reserves, either through the president's approval, which President Akufo-Addo gave, or through illegal means, are all NPP people, and that no NDC person is in that forest."

He urged patience from Ghanaians, noting that the new government is still setting up and cannot be expected to resolve an eight-year-long problem in just three months.

"The government is barely three months old, and of course, Ghanaians would expect the government to come out with a strong policy direction. Do you think that you can compare the failure of a government in eight years to fight galamsey to a government that is barely three months old?" he quizzed.

"I will plead that Ghanaians and ourselves would exercise some patience and allow the government to clamp down on these negative operations happening around our forest reserves and our water bodies."