Colonel Festus Aboagye, a security analyst, has expressed strong concerns about the sustainability of the deployment of the military by President Nana Akufo-Addo as one of the measures to clamp down on galamsey.
Colonel Festus Aboagye, in an interview with TV3 and monitored by Peacefmonline.com, stated that the impact of galamsey in Ghana, is profound and poses multifaceted consequences on Ghanaians, adding that, the deployment of the military to galamsey sites without any prior collation of data is the most laziest approach adopted by the government to tackle the menace.
Col Festus Aboagye explained that, between 2018 and 2019, there was a similar situation where the Military was deployed by the President to the galamsey areas only to leave in the short time for the illicit mining practices to resurge.His comment come on the heels of a current measure taken by the President to tackle the menace of galamsey which includes the deployment of the military to the galamsey sites following the threat of Organised Labour to embark on a nationwide strike should the President do nothing about the fight against galamsey.The President also directed the Ministry of the Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation together with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to suspend with immediate effect the enforcement of L.I 2462 on mining in forest reserves.In a statement issued on October 9 by the Office of the Presidency, President Akufo-Addo outlined a number of measures to address concerns raised by Organised Labour."The operation will be bolstered by the deployment of naval boats on polluted river bodies to ensure the immediate cessation of all mining activities, legal or illegal, in and around these water bodies," the statement said.However, Col.
Festus Aboagye said, "I think this is the laziest approach to combating any risk and threat to National Security.