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El Pianim Okyere: MBN360
The New Patriotic Party (NPP) has accused the National Democratic Congress (NDC) government of failing to effectively combat illegal mining, known as galamsey, and abusing state power. NPP General Secretary, Justin Kodua Frimpong, stated that the NDC’s claims of being committed to ending galamsey are baseless, given the worsening situation under their administration.
Frimpong criticized the NDC for hypocrisy, saying they accused the NPP of not doing enough to fight galamsey when they were in opposition, but now that they are in power, the situation has deteriorated. He called for a non-partisan, collaborative approach to tackle the issue, emphasizing that the NPP remains open to dialogue and joint efforts to develop a comprehensive national roadmap to curb galamsey.
The NPP also accused the NDC government of using state security agencies to intimidate political opponents rather than tackling pressing national challenges, including galamsey and insecurity in volatile areas.
Kodua asserted that illegal mining, or galamsey, has deteriorated under the current administration, posing an “existential threat” to the country’s environment. He further alleged that key state institutions were being used to intimidate political opponents and suppress critical journalism.
“We have witnessed escalating abuse of incumbency and state-sponsored intimidation of political opponents in the media,” he said.
“We have seen the disturbing pattern of filing nolle prosequi to free their members who are standing trial for allegedly embezzling huge sums of money from the state. We have seen attempts to capture our institutions, including the judiciary, and efforts to take parliamentary seats we have won.”
Kodua also accused the government of compromising the judiciary, referencing what he described as the controversial removal of former Chief Justice Gertrude Torkonoo.
“Unfortunately, the judiciary, which is supposed to be the last vanguard of the rule of law, has sadly been captured by the executive,” he claimed.
“Today, in Ghana, judges fear delivering justice according to the law because they fear they will also suffer the same consequences as Justice Torkonoo did.
