President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has reiterated his commitment to protecting Ghana’s environment, emphasizing that the fight against galamsey is not a fight against mining, but rather a fight to ensure that minerals are extracted responsibly.
In his final state of the nation address to Parliament on Friday, January 3, Akufo-Addo recalled his inaugural speech in 2017, where he made a public commitment to tackle galamsey.
“I knew, and was very much aware, that fighting galamsey was not a universally popular position for a president to take, but I felt strongly enough about the need to protect our environment,” the outgoing president stated.
Akufo-Addo acknowledged that his stance on galamsey led to the loss of several parliamentary seats for his party in the 2020 elections.
However, he welcomed the recent converts to the fight against galamsey, saying “I pray that more and more of us get to embrace the need for the protection of our lands and water bodies.”
According to Akufo-Addo, the fight against galamsey is not against mining, but rather against the destructive practices that harm the environment.
“We owe it to future generations of Ghanaians to extract our minerals in the manner that protects our lands and water bodies,” he noted.
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