Former Member of Parliament for Dormaa East, Paul Apraku Twum Barimah
The former Member of Parliament for Dormaa East, Paul Apraku Twum Barimah, has criticized President John Dramani Mahama for failing to fulfill his campaign promise of ending illegal mining activities, popularly known as galamsey.
He has advised President Mahama and his ministers to apologize to former President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo for leveling false allegations against him, accusing him of being a beneficiary of illegal mining.
In the run-up to the December 2024 general elections, President Mahama promised to end the galamsey menace within his first 90 days in office. However, according to Twum Barimah, this promise remains unfulfilled.
“As I speak to you now, the galamsey menace has spiraled out of control, with armed guards moving into forest reserves, attacking and killing officers of the Forestry Commission. This is not what Ghanaians were promised. Ghanaians were promised an end to galamsey, but that is not what we are experiencing,” he stated.
Twum Barimah further highlighted President Akufo-Addo’s efforts during his eight-year tenure to combat illegal mining, noting that these efforts came at a political cost.
He claimed that the New Patriotic Party (NPP) lost votes in mining areas and communities during the 2020 and 2024 general elections due to the government’s strong stance against galamsey.
“President Akufo-Addo never received any support from Mahama and the NDC in his fight against illegal mining. Instead, the NDC protested against the NPP government and succeeded in making it unpopular among Ghanaians. Today, their members are deeply engaged in galamsey and are destroying our forest reserves,” he alleged.
Twum Barimah called on Mahama and his government to apologize to Akufo-Addo for their failure to end galamsey within the promised timeframe.
He also criticized Mahama and Sam George, Minister for Communication for denigrating Akufo-Addo and accusing him of being complicit in illegal mining.
“Since Mahama and his government have not been able to end galamsey in three months as they promised, they need to apologize to President Akufo-Addo. Mahama and Sam George accused the former president of being complicit and a beneficiary of galamsey—a sad situation.
“Today, it has become obvious that President Akufo-Addo is not complicit and is also not a beneficiary of illegal mining. They must apologize to Nana Akufo-Addo,” he added.
