A security consultant, Prof Kwesi Aning has raised the alarm over the alarming levels of corruption and integrity issues plaguing the fight against illegal small-scale mining.
Prof Aning believes the rate at which Ghana's public institutions accept gestures from companies with links to illegal mining is worrying.
According to him, the acceptance of "gifts" by these institutions has severely compromised their ability to effectively deliver on their mandate of protecting the country's lands.
On the back of this, he believes despite the political assurances, no party that wins the upcoming poll will see the fight against galamsey through.
Read also: Erastus Asare Donkor reveals chilling details of deformed babies due to galamsey He questioned the depth of intelligence and decision-making within these organisations, suggesting that their tainted nature undermines their capacity to serve the people. "We can do all the reports that we like, we can draw all the interlinkages, but so far as we are tainted by virtue of collusion, and by extension, dirtying our hands, then we don't have that integrity and the moral suasion to say we are going to punish you," he said on Saturday.
Speaking on JoyNews' Newsfile, he proposed that a thorough background check of all candidates for public office should be conducted to uncover any links to institutions, companies, or groups that pose a threat to Ghana's survival. "Whoever wins the December 7 election does not have the gumption to take this fight to galamsey.
If the National Intelligence Bureau is anything to go by, and we said, look, every single person who has put forth himself or herself up for public office, do an analysis and background check in terms of their linkages to institutions, to companies, to groups that are threatening the survival of Ghana, probably less than 20 of those people will survive," he added.
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