Dennis Miracles Aboagye, Director of Communications for the 2024 Bawumia Campaign Team, has criticised the Minister for Lands and Natural Resources, Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah, over his emotional reaction to the devastation caused by illegal mining, commonly known as galamsey.
His comments follow a press briefing where the minister, visibly shaken by the extent of environmental degradation in the Tano Nimiri Forest Reserve, paused mid-speech to wipe away tears as he described the transformation of once-lush forest into a wasteland.
The minister recounted seeing streams choked with mud and the silence of once-thriving ecosystems — a grim picture that left the room silent.
However, speaking on Breakfast Daily on Channel One TV on Tuesday, April 22, Miracles Aboagye dismissed the emotional display, calling it unproductive.
He argued that the minister’s tears send the wrong signal to Ghanaians, suggesting helplessness rather than action.
“Who ever directed the minister to cry did him a disservice. We didn’t vote for you to go and cry. This is a man that stood in parliament and told the then president in his face that ‘his tenure in office will remain a timely reminder of how not to govern a country’.
“He is the man who said that they had the solution to dealing with this galamsey. In fact, the cabinet minister, Sam George, the communications minister said that if Nana Akufo-Addo was serious, he would end galamsey in one week.
“So, if you are in power and you are given the mandate to stop it and you come and cry, what do we do. it creates a hopeless situation,” he stated.