Alexander Akwasi Acquah, the Member of Parliament for the Akim Oda constituency, has raised serious allegations against the Ghana Gold Board, asserting that the institution is actively facilitating illegal mining, popularly known as galamsey.
He claimed that the current administration has effectively institutionalised these illegal activities through the establishment of the Gold Board, resulting in an economy that is now fundamentally driven by unauthorised mining operations.
According to the lawmaker, the government’s public efforts to combat galamsey have proven unsuccessful because the state itself continues to procure gold directly from illegal miners.
During an interview on Frontline on Rainbow Radio 87.5FM, the MP argued that the New Patriotic Party (NPP) previously maintained a more strategic and transparent plan for utilizing the nation’s gold.
He pointed to the domestic gold program and the Gold-for-Oil (G4O) initiative launched in late 2022 as superior models.
These programs were designed to use domestically produced gold to settle payments for imported refined petroleum products, a move intended to stabilize the cedi and reduce the nation’s heavy reliance on the US dollar.
Mr. Acquah noted that while the G4O initiative faced significant criticism from the then-opposition, the system introduced after the power shift has been fundamentally different and more damaging.
He characterised the current Gold Board system as one that has transformed Ghana into a “galamsey economy” by providing a ready market for those destroying the environment.
He emphasised that while there is a national consensus on the destructive nature of galamsey, the government has chosen to ignore these environmental consequences in favor of the gold supplied by illegal operators.
In his concluding remarks, Alexander Akwasi Acquah urged the government to heed the concerns raised by the opposition regarding the Gold Board’s impact on the country.
He called for a sincere intensification of the fight against galamsey, demanding that the administration stop influencing the trade and instead address the systemic challenges that are currently undermining the well-being of the Ghanaian people.
By: Rainbowradioonline.com/Ghana
