The Ashanti Region Minister has blasted a former President, John Dramani Mahama, for a “derogatory” statement he made in relation to the approach government is using in the fight against illegal small-scale mining popularly known as galamsey.
The former President at a recent NDC Unity Walk in Kumasi criticised the ruling government for not applying common sense in its fight against illegal mining activities.
He entreated government to find new measures or road map to regulate the illegal miners instead of chasing and shooting them with the use of the joint military and police team ‘Operation Vanguard’.
READ: Govt’s approach to fighting galamsey will fail – Mahama signals
Addressing a press conference on Wednesday, the Ashanti Region Minister, Simon Osei Mensah said he was not surprised by the former president’s utterances since he has “the penchant for insulting”.
“When he was a parliamentarian he insulted Osei Kwame Prempeh and all Ashantis in relation to the use of the Queen’s language. He also said Ashanti’s are ungrateful, and if you even pave all their roads with gold they won’t appreciate just to mention a few.”
He said the former president should have been more decorous in his utterances and the statement made should not have come from him as a statesman.
The Ashanti Region Minister further alleged that some excavators owned by small scale miners were burnt while acids were also poured into the engines of some of them during the former President’s regime; hence he has no moral right to question NPP’s method of dealing with the menace.
“Is the former president saying the government did not attach sense to the fight against galamsey? Did he execute the exercise with sense during his time? If yes why did he fail?” the Minister questioned.
