The Attorney-General and Minister for Justice, Godfred Yeboah Dame says the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) has no moral standing in criticising the government’s handling of galamsey.
He says the NDC should be the last political party to compalin about the destruction the menace has caused to the state.
According to Mr Yeboah Dame, the largest opposition party’s record in dealing with the canker is “wretched and miserable” and they should not be proud in criticising the current regime.
In a press statement issued on Wednesday, October 18, he insisted that the NDC during the erstwhile Mahama administration failed to arrest and prosecute even a single galamsey kingpin in the country.
“I consider it ironic for the NDC, whose record in the fight against Galamsey can be described at best, as wretched and miserable, to mount personal attacks on me for the brave efforts in the fight against Galamsey.”
“The record shows that the NDC woefully failed and/or neglected to arrest and prosecute a single kingpin of Galamsey, including the touted Galamsey queen, Aisha Huang.”
Also ruffled by the party’s demand for his resignation over the advice his office offered to the CID concerning Professor Frimpong-Boateng’s report, Mr Dame used the arrest and prosecution of Aisha Huang to tout his achievements.
According to him, it was his stellar work that got Ms Huang arrested and currently being prosecuted.
“It is noted that all acts committed by Aisha Huang for which she gained notoriety, took place between 2014 and 2016.”
“However, remarkably, it was the current NPP administration which commenced the prosecution of Aisha Huan in 2018.”
Mr Dame still unimpressed about the NDC’s performance against the menace said the punishments for galamseyers during their tenure were woeful.
Despite this, he maintained that “no significant convictions for Galamsey offences were recorded in the regime of the NDC when that political party had the opportunity to govern.”
“Their Flagbearer before the 2020 General Elections, openly declared amnesty for all those arrested for engaging in Galamsey activities in communities affected by the heinous environmental hazard.”