The Chief Executive Officer and Founder of Save the Nation for Future Leaders, Kwadwo Atta Apeakorang, has called on Ghanaians, not to politicise the ongoing fight against illegal mining (Galamsey) in the country.
He said the time has come for Ghanaians irrespective of one’s political affiliation to join H.E Nana Addo Dankwah Akufo-Addo in the fight against galamsey to save the country from destruction.
According to him, the government’s decision to burn all excavators found in mining sites is a call in the right direction.
“We have to protect our water bodies because water is life if we don’t have water we can’t do anything as a country. These foreigners don’t have good intentions for us, they want to destroy our water bodies so that we can import water from them too which we don’t have to allow them to destroy our land”.
He said this while addressing a press conference in Accra on Tuesday, 1st June 2020 on the topic ‘Ensuring A Cleaner, Greener And Habitable Ghanaian Ecosystem’.
He applauds the president of the public of Ghana, H.E Nana Addo Dankwah Akufo-Addo for taking any impressive measures towards the fight against galamsey.
He said petitions were sent to the presidency, national security, Parliament on 30th June 2019 and 10th February 2020, that the ‘shoot to kill’ approach should be adopted to fight galamsey.
“We urge the Executive and the Legislature to immediately pass a law that ensures the ‘shoot to kill’ approach becomes part of the measures to fight galamsey. This has become necessary and a more stringent measure as a section of the mining public has resorted to carrying out their illegal activity at night to escape the punishment. We do not support the argument by Ghanaians that excavators are expensive equipment that should not be destroyed. No equipment is more expensive and important than human life”.
On the issue of Covid-19, he said covid-19 does not exist in Sub-Saharan Africa hence handwashing and the closure of businesses as Covid-19 protocols is a waste of taxpayers money and resources which have resulted in Ghana consuming more water during this period than any other period in the country’s history.
“We have requested the president to grant me access to Hon. Kwaku Agyemang-Manu, Minister of Health; Dr Nsiah Asare, the president’s advisor on health; Dr Patrick Kuma Aboagye, Director-General of Ghana Health Services and the Country Director of World Health Organisation to engage them in a national debate on Covid-19 and the need to withdraw certain protocols that are inimical to our progress in these times. We will prove with data and facts as to why we believe Covid-19 can not withstand the weather in Sub-Saharan Africa”.
He, therefore, pleaded with Otumfuo Osei Tutu ll, Osagyefo Amoatia Ofori Panin ll and Chief Imam Osman Nuhu Sharubutu to speak to the president and the said personalities to avail themselves for the debate.
He also called on churches in the country to preach on issues happening in our society leading to the destruction of our natural resources than abstract subjects that have no bearing on current and immediate social lives.
Credit: Beyonce Diamond Kpogli
