Before 2011 : Galamsey was “Hoe, Pick axe and shovel”, scavenging on left overs from large scale mining firms like Goldfields etc.
Late 2011 – 2012 : Galamsey on River Bodies and forest areas started . NDC Government sat aloof and did nothing about it.
2013: Galamsey in our forest reserves and water bodies became endemic. NDC Government had no idea how to manage this.
2013: Then President Mahama sets up an inter ministerial task force with the mandate to arrest and prosecute both local and foreign illegal miners and to deport foreigners. Excavators were burnt and foreigners were deported.
2016: 3 years into the fight by the NDC, the minister leading the fight gives up and admits the war against galamsey can’t be won. Blames traditional authorities and local government authorities. (https://mobile.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/features/Why-did-NDC-s-2013-inter-ministerial-task force-fail-to-halt-galamsey-741514)
2016: The Galamsey has been allowed to fester and turned our water bodies from colorless to “Milo color” (according to president John Mahama in a TV interview).
2016 Elections: NDC Campaigns and promise to protect Galamseyers and allow them to mine. Asks them to vote against New Patriotic Party cos they threaten to cancel Galamsey
2016 Elections: Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo clarifies the propaganda of destroying the livelihood of the people through the naming of galamsey. Promises to facilitate the introduction of safe and profitable mining through community mining scheme
2017 – 2020: President Akufo-Addo rallies Media, CSO and public to fight against illegal mining and places temporal ban on small scale mining.
2020- 2021 : Water bodies start clearing up and water quality starts improving
2020 Elections: NDC National Executives, Parliamentary candidates and Technical mining members invade mining communities and Galamsey pits and promises to allow galamseyers to mine illegally.
2020 Elections: former President Mahama promises to free all arrested illegal miners and return their creased excavators so they can go back to mine
2020 Elections: NPP Loses almost all mining areas in protest by the people against the fight and in support for the NDC for continuation of the menace
2022: NDC moves round the country accusing the NPP for failure to fight Galamsey and allowing galamsey to destroy our water bodies
2022: NDC Promises to eradicate Galamsey when voted into power come elections 2024.
2022: NDC Holds press conference calling out the NPP and asking them not to shift blame to traditional authorities for the festering of the menace.
source: facebook/miracle aboagye
