Kwaku
Asante-Boateng,
the
Member
of
Parliament
(MP)
for
Asante
Akim
South,
has
expressed
concerns
that
the
government’s
reluctance
to
tackle
illegal
mining,
commonly
known
as
galamsey,
is
driven
by
fears
of
losing
the
December
7
elections.
According
to
Asante-Boateng,
the
New
Patriotic
Party’s
(NPP)
strong
stance
against
galamsey
in
2020
contributed
to
the
party’s
defeat
in
several
mining
communities.
Speaking
to
journalists
on
Wednesday,
October
2,
the
NPP
MP
suggested
that
the
current
hesitation
to
impose
a
total
ban
on
all
forms
of
mining
stems
from
this
fear,
a
sentiment
he
believes
could
affect
any
political
party.
He
defended
the
government’s
caution,
stating
that
the
fear
of
losing
votes
is
a
common
concern
in
politics,
particularly
in
regions
where
galamsey
is
prevalent.
“We
did
it
as
a
party
and
as
a
government
before
the
2020
elections.
And
if
you
can
recount,
all
our
seats
in
the
mining
communities
that
we
were
trying
to
control,
we
lost
all
the
seats,
the
parliamentary
seats
there.
“So
do
you
think
for
the
second
time,
if
we
say
we
want
to
break
the
8
and
people
are
crying
for
that
ban,
the
current
government
will
have
the
guts
or
will
find
it
necessary
to
put
a
ban
on
it?
“The
fear
of
losing
power
[is
delaying
the
ban]
and
that
fear
can
happen
to
any
party
at
all.”