Minority Leader Alexander Afenyo-Markin has accused the NDC government of facilitating illegal mining.
He asserts that its decision to permit the Gold Board (Goldbod) to acquire gold from small-scale miners effectively finances galamsey activities.
Commenting on the 2026 Budget before Parliament on Thursday, November 27, Afenyo-Markin stated that the government’s stance indicates it has “surrendered” to illegal mining instead of combating it.
“This government has surrendered to the galamsey activities. This government has become its enabler,” he declared.
He contended that the budget’s provision empowering the Gold Board to purchase gold from small-scale miners contradicts the government’s assertion of fighting illegal mining.
He argued that this action grants state endorsement for unregulated mining operations.
“In this budget, the government announced the Gold Board to purchase gold from small-scale miners. They are not fighting illegal mining. The NDC government, through the Gold Board, is rather financing it. This is giving it state endorsement,” he remarked.
Shifting focus to the repercussions for personnel combating illegal mining, the Minority Leader pointed out that members of NAIMOS continue to encounter peril while the government remains passive, recalling the eight lives lost while travelling to launch a program aimed at addressing galamsey.
“Today, members of NAIMOS are getting hurt, dead, shot at in a fight their own government has abandoned. Eight lives were lost on their way to launch a programme to fight illegal mining,” he expressed with concern.
Afenyo-Markin further condemned the government for its failure to exhibit the seriousness and commitment necessary to eradicate illegal mining.
He argued that establishing a Gold Board to purchase gold that cannot be traced to miners who cannot verify only exacerbates complicity rather than enforcement.
“Today, their own government is demonstrating neither the seriousness nor commitment necessary to defeat it. Instead, it has set up a Gold Board to buy gold it cannot trace, miners it cannot verify, in a system designed for complicity rather than enforcement. If this government cannot trace the gold, it must not buy the gold,” he added.
