Alexander Kwamena Afenyo-Markin, the Minority Leader, has accused the government of enabling illegal mining, stating that its decision to allow the Gold Board to purchase gold from small-scale miners effectively finances galamsey activities.
“Mr Speaker, this government has surrendered to the galamsey activities. This government has become its enabler,” he said on Thursday, November 27, when he commented on the 2026 Budget Statement and Economic Policy on the Floor of Parliament.
He argued that the budget’s announcement empowering the Gold Board to buy gold from small-scale miners contradicted the government’s claim of combating illegal mining.
“In this budget, the government announced the Gold Board to purchase gold from small-scale miners. They are not fighting illegal mining. The NDC government, through the Gold Board, is rather financing it. This is giving it state endorsement,” he said.
Mr Afenyo-Markin further criticised the government for failing to demonstrate the seriousness and commitment needed to end illegal mining, noting that members of NAIMOS continue to face danger while the government looks on.
“Mr Speaker, today, members of NAIMOS are getting hurt, dead, and shot in a fight their own government has abandoned. Eight lives were lost on their way to launch a programme to fight illegal mining,” he lamented.
The Minority Leader contended that setting up a Gold Board to buy gold that could not be traced to miners who could not be verified only fuels complicity rather than enforcement.
“Today, their own government is demonstrating neither the seriousness nor commitment necessary to defeat it.
“Instead, it has set up a Gold Board to buy gold it cannot trace from miners it cannot verify in a system designed for complicity, rather than enforcement. If this government cannot trace the gold, it must not buy the gold,” Mr Afenyo-Markin emphasised.
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