Minority Leader Alexander Afenyo-Markin has criticised the government’s handling of illegal mining, saying communities affected by galamsey are paying a heavy price in deteriorating health while questions remain over an alleged US$1.7 billion financial discrepancy involving GoldBod.
Speaking during Parliament’s emergency sitting on Monday, August 24, Mr Afenyo-Markin said residents in mining communities across the country were suffering from serious health conditions linked to pollution caused by illegal mining.
He cited kidney and lung diseases among the conditions allegedly affecting people living in areas heavily impacted by galamsey.
“As we speak, Ghanaians in mining communities across this country continue to suffer kidney failure, lung failure, and other grave conditions at alarming rates because of the extensive pollution that illegal mining has visited upon our water bodies and our air,” he said.
According to the Minority Leader, the situation had reached a critical stage and required urgent intervention from the government.
“This has become nothing short of a widespread epidemic, one this government appears to have neither the clue nor the courage to confront,” he stated.
Mr Afenyo-Markin subsequently drew a comparison between the health crisis in mining communities and concerns over the accountability of funds associated with Ghana’s gold trade.
He claimed that GoldBod could not account for US$1.7 billion, which he said was equivalent to approximately GH¢22 billion.
“So while Gold Board cannot account for 1.7 billion, an equivalent of 22 billion Ghanaian cedis, Ghanaians in our mining communities are paying with their kidneys, their lungs, and in other cases their lives,” he said.
“This House owes them an answer too,” he added.
His comments came shortly after Speaker of Parliament Alban Bagbin outlined the business for which the House had been recalled.
