Director of Communications for the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Richard Ahiagbah, has dismissed John Dramani Mahama's pledge to employ Artificial Intelligence (AI) in the fight against illegal mining, labelling it as mere political rhetoric.

In a post on his X handle, Ahiagbah asserted that under Mr. Mahama's leadership, it would be impossible to address the issue of galamsey effectively.

He accused the National Democratic Congress (NDC) of actively promoting illegal mining activities.

Ahiagbah emphasised that galamsey poses an existential threat to Ghana and requires a collective effort from all sectors of society to combat. However, he expressed doubts about the sincerity of the NDC in addressing the problem.

The NDC are promoters of glamsey. Therefore, H.E Mahama's promise to use AI powered plan to combat galamsey is a vote-seeking gimmick. Galamsy is an existential problem that requires inputs from all strata of society to combat. Resolving the galamsey manace is impossible with… pic.twitter.com/78v4GwF8Pm

— Richard Ahiagbah (@RAahiagbah) May 16, 2024

According to him, the NDC and its flagbearer are complicit in perpetuating the menace of illegal mining, and therefore, their promises in this regard should not be taken seriously.

“The NDC are promoters of galamsey. Therefore, H.E Mahama’s promise to use AI-powered plan to combat galamsey is a vote-seeking gimmick. Galamsy is an existential problem that requires inputs from all strata of society to combat."

"Resolving the galamsey menace is impossible with H.E John Mahama and the NDC because they are promoters and beneficiaries of galamsey.”

At the 3rd Annual Transformational Dialogue on Small-scale Mining held at the University of Energy and Natural Resources (UENR) in Sunyani, John Dramani Mahama outlined his plan to leverage Artificial Intelligence (AI) in tackling illegal mining activities, if re-elected. 

He proposed the use of AI to pinpoint all small-scale mining and galamsey operations, monitor the movement of excavators, and establish geofences around concessions. 

He stated that this approach aims to enhance coordination and monitoring within the small-scale mining sector, with the ultimate goal of reducing environmental degradation caused by illegal mining activities.

However, Mr. Ahiagbah remains skeptical of this promise by the former President.