The Minority in Parliament is accusing the government of only talking about illegal mining (galamsey) instead of taking real action to stop it.

Addressing a press conference on Wednesday, March 26, New Patriotic Party (NPP) Director of Communication, Richard Ahiagba, stated that the fight against galamsey has worsened under the current administration.

He argued that while the National Democratic Congress (NDC) spoke strongly against illegal mining before the elections, its actions since coming to power have shown a lack of commitment to tackling the issue.

"The fight against galamsey has significantly deteriorated. Just before the elections, you heard calls in civil societies championed also by the NDC. The President now, I have been seeing on platforms saying that Ghanaians voted for us and so therefore we must resolve the problem of galamsey. Some have called around that time for a state of emergency to be declared," he said.

According to him, the NDC created the impression before the elections that they were serious about stopping galamsey, but in reality, the government lacks the commitment to fight it.

"The NDC participated in the conversation and created the impression that we were not willing to do much about the fight to curb galamsey. But today, you will agree as I tell you that government lacks the commitment to fight galamsey, and what exacerbation we are seeing in galamsey around the country is as a result of the lack of commitment of the John Mahama administration," he added.

He claimed that illegal miners are now being protected by militants from Ivory Coast and other regions, with reports indicating that many of these galamsey operators are NDC members.

"Today our forests are populated with recruited militants from Ivory Coast and other regions to protect 'galamseyers', who, according to media reports, are NDC members. Currently, mining has devastated 44 out of the 288 forest reserves in our country.

"At this rate, we risk losing all our forest cover to galamsey. A situation where you ponder should cause a shiver in your spine because you have seen recently operatives and party members of the NDC actively preventing task forces or security forces detailed to fight corruption and protect our forest cover," he warned.

He further alleged that the NDC deliberately encouraged illegal miners by making hidden campaign promises.

"The NDC is complicit in the astronomical growth in illegal mining because they campaigned actively in galamsey areas with coded promises which translate to mean that we will allow the boys to galamsey simply by looking aside and pretending to be doing something about fighting galamsey," he stated.

He said the ruling party is more focused on talking about illegal mining rather than taking any meaningful steps to stop it.

"So in other words, the NDC is talking more about galamsey, talking more about the fight to curb galamsey than actually doing anything to fight it," he said.

The minority also criticised the government's recent introduction of Blue Water Guards, meant to help tackle galamsey. He dismissed the initiative as ineffective and described the recruits as unprepared for the task.

"You heard recently they commissioned some Blue Water Guards. These Blue Water Guards are not primary fighters, they are complementary to the fight, but they are being presented as the government’s key strategy to fight galamsey.

"And the individuals you see do not exude that confidence or have the stature or the readiness to combat or engage any galamsey-ers who are wielding guns and machetes, with the people we saw in the video who they have trained to be the Blue Water Guards," he said.