Minority Leader and Member of Parliament for Effutu, Alexander Kwamena Afenyo-Markin, has urged a collective national effort to tackle illegal gold mining, commonly known as “galamsey”, warning that the politicisation of the issue continues to undermine progress.
According to a citinewsroom.com report on October 7, 2025, while speaking at a seminar organised by the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA) on Ghana’s natural resource management regime, Afenyo-Markin said the country’s inability to effectively address the menace stems partly from political rhetoric and blame games.
He cited the 2020 general elections as an example, alleging that campaign messages from the then-opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) contributed to the New Patriotic Party’s (NPP) loss in some mining communities.
“During the 2020 campaign, the message was that they (NPP) came to take your food away, so vote against them. And the debate kept going to where we are. If we do the blame game thing, we will not get anywhere,” he stated.
Afenyo-Markin stressed that the fight against illegal mining should not be viewed through a partisan lens, calling for a change in national attitude towards environmental protection and responsible resource use.
“I think it goes beyond the NPP, NDC arguments. I think as a nation, we need a whole national orientation. Frankly speaking, I think we all failed our nation. We have to let the authorities know that we have no other alternatives; this must stop,” he indicated.
His comments come amid renewed public concern and stakeholder calls for decisive and unified action to end illegal mining across the country.