UTAG President condemns Akufo-Addo's inaction on Galamsey, calls him a liar

Kumasi, Ghana - The President of the University Teachers Association of Ghana (UTAG) at KNUST, Prof. Eric Abavare, has lambasted President Akufo-Addo for his perceived failure to tackle illegal mining (galamsey) effectively.

Prof. Abavare accused the President of possessing the authority and resources to combat galamsey but showing no willingness to do so.

He expressed disappointment in the government's inaction, despite the devastating environmental and social impacts of illegal mining.

Speaking on JoyNews’ AM Show on September 12, he said, “That man is a big liar. I am sad because I have to say this on air. Once upon a time, when issues of Prof Frimpong Manso, the former Minister of Environment was seizing people's excavators, the president made us believe he was doing the wrong thing, but today I believe him.”

“Nana Addo has all the powers to stop galamsey if he wants to. The point is that, he doesn’t want to. He has all it takes to stop galamsey now. If they are not willing to solve the problem, they must not be in office. They must resign. I call for the resignation of the president for his massive failure to fight galamsey,” he said.

Furthermore, Prof. Abavare criticized NDC flagbearer John Mahama for promising to permit galamsey activities and release arrested individuals if elected, describing it as a misguided approach that would exacerbate the problem.

“He doesn’t even qualify to be the president of Ghana. This issue of galamsey, we know the solution. We know those involved. We know what we can do to solve it. The issue is that, we don’t want to do it. If the president really wants to solve it, he will say that from now, he does not want to see any earth moving machine on our road anywhere. That statement alone will suffice everything,” he stated.

Source: Lead News Online