The recent media engagement hosted by the President at the Jubilee House was an auspicious exercise.
It brought out the truth about key critical national issues such as galamsey and now Ghanaians can justifiably throw up their hands in the air to signal their giving-up on the subject.
We were also able to find out what accounted for the superficial appreciation of the value of the Cedi against the Dollar. The chickens have indeed come home to roost.
Governance should be steeped in sincerity and not incessant propaganda.
When this attribute is lost the pawns in the propaganda puzzle would give way eventually.
One of the critical cornerstones of the NDC campaign in the run-up to the last elections was illegal mining otherwise known as galamsey.
Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) active in the campaign and insisting that a state of emergency be declared to arrest the anomaly have revised their notes.
They chose the path of muteness when it was becoming glaring that the campaign promises of the then opposition NDC to for instance deal with the subject head-on were faltering never going to be implemented. Perhaps they decided to hold on in a wait-and-see posture.
The Jubilee House engagement and the President kid’s gloves management of the question on the subject has pushed them out of their holes their conclusion unambiguous…government is not ready to tackle the menace.
They are now talking and the media channels are abuzz with their lamentations of disappointment.
As for the Police the President’s disappointment was evident in his statement that government had to abort their operations because as he put it a situation where any commander could simply put on helmets and descend upon both legal and illegal miners cannot be tolerated. This is a subtle disappointment of the President in the police’s management of the issue hence the decision.
Why should the police anti-galamsey squad not be able to differentiate between the licensed and illegal miners on the sites? The impression we get also is that there have been instances of unauthorized operations by uniformed persons.
This just shows how unplanned the so-called anti-galamsey war has been and continuous to be.
The President’s reference to finding an alternative occupation for the youth in galamsey is another admission that the illegality will continue.
There is no declaration of a state of emergency over galamsey this the President has made clear without any iota of ambiguity during the engagement.
The CSOs might have started whinging over the evident hypocrisy on the part of government the pitch should equal or even surpass the one recorded during the opposition days of the NDC.
Where are they, who shouted on top of rooftops that galamsey can be stopped within a fortnight?
The power they sought to deal decisively with illegal mining has been given to them. Excuses being churned out are but lame and falling below the high expectations of Ghanaians.
What are the circumstances which have changed and therefore making it unfeasible to impose a state of emergency in galamsey-active areas of the country?
The President has subtly agreed that the Cedi was being supported to defy the forces of demand and supply. This he said has been stopped. We hope so.
