The founder of the United Progressive Party (UPP), Mr Akwasi Addai Odike, has disclosed that he has instructed his lawyers to petition the United Nations (UN) and European Union (EU) to bring pressure on President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to renew his fight against galamsey.
According to him, the content of the petition was to seek their support to put pressure on the president to live up to his fight against galamsey.
He noted that there is a need for international pressure to be brought to bear on the president to live up to the fight against illegal mining, also known as galamsey.
He added that a copy of the petition will be addressed to the United States of America’s embassy in Ghana.
“This is my way of bringing some international pressure to bear on the president to show commitment to the fight against galamsey which has destroyed many of the country’s water bodies,” he noted.
He was of the view that as it stands, Nana Akufo-Addo has no antidote to the fight against galamsey hence the need for more international pressure to whip him in line.
Mr Odike made this disclosure while speaking in an interview on the Ghana Yensom morning show hosted by Emmanuel Quarshie on Accra 100.5FM on Tuesday, October 11, 2022.
“There’s a need for international pressure to be brought to bear on the president in his fight against galamsey because all indications point to the fact that the president has over the years not shown commitment to the fight,” he asserted.
He minced no words to say the president has been complicit in the fight against illegal mining in the country.
He alleged that many of the culprits in the galamsey fight are appointees at the Jubilee House.
He noted that had the president been serious with the fight against illegal mining, he would have evoked an Executive Instrument (E.I) that would ban surface mining in the country until a technology is discovered to properly mine without polluting water bodies.
He noted the president and his administration have been a waste, six years into their administration, with corruption spiralling under his watchful eyes.
“Nana showed some commitment in the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic by addressing the nation on progress made in the fight against the pandemic all because money was coming from the development partners,” he charged.
He queried why he (the president) had not taken the same approach in the fight against galamsey.
