Kwaku Asante-Boateng, the Member of Parliament (MP) for Asante Akim South, has raised concerns that the government’s hesitation to tackle illegal mining, also known as galamsey, is driven by the fear of losing the upcoming December 7 elections.
Asante-Boateng highlighted that the New Patriotic Party’s (NPP) strong opposition to galamsey in 2020 played a role in the party’s loss of seats in various mining areas. He pointed out that the reluctance to impose a total ban on mining activities is influenced by concerns about electoral consequences, a challenge he believes any political party could face.
“We did it as a party and as a government before the 2020 elections. And if you can recount, all our seats in the mining communities that we were trying to control, we lost all the seats, the parliamentary seats there,” Asante-Boateng said in an interview with journalists on Wednesday.
He explained that the government’s current caution is understandable, particularly as it seeks to “break the 8” and maintain power in the next election. “The fear of losing power [is delaying the ban] and that fear can happen to any party at all,” he noted.
Asante-Boateng believes that while the government may face pressure to impose a ban, the risk of alienating voters in mining communities continues to influence its decisions.
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