Andrews Kwame Pianim, a Ghanaian economist, has said presidential aspirants who lack comprehensive plans to address illegal mining also known as ‘galamsey’ are not fit for the office.
He says it is a must that the aspirants have in place a plan to end the galamsey menace that is still devastating Ghana’s environment.
“If you want to be President now and you don’t know how to solve galamsey in Ghana then you’re not competent to be president,” he said on Accra-based JoyNews Wednesday, October 16, 2024.
Pianim says the proposal by John Dramani Mahama, the flag bearer of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) will not help Ghana.
“I heard President Mahama…look that will not help us” he noted, adding that the plans of the Vice President and flag bearer of the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP), Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, is not enough to address the canker holistically.
He admonished all the candidates to come up with better proposals to help address the situation.
According to him, fighting galamsey should not be a one-man show but rather a collaborative effort between persons from various disciplines, urging the scientific society of the country, including geologists and researchers, to join their forces to counter the problem.
On the issuing of licenses, Kwame Pianim said it must be stopped until the right things are put in place to solve the challenge.
The Forestry Commission, Environmental Protection Agency, and the Minerals Commission, per Mr. Pianim’s assessment, are not helping with matters in dealing with the canker.
He suggests those manning those state agencies should have been kicked out of office by now for their failure to help bring the matter to a finality.
