Professor Ransford Gyampo, President of the University of Ghana Branch of the University Teachers Association of Ghana (UG-UTAG), has strongly criticised the government’s handling of the fight against illegal mining, commonly known as galamsey.
His comments come after a closed-door meeting between President Akufo-Addo and leaders of Organised Labour on Thursday, where the President asked for more time to address the galamsey crisis.
The meeting was prompted by Organised Labour’s declaration of an indefinite strike set for October 10. The strike was announced on Tuesday, October 1, after the government failed to meet their demands for a total ban on all forms of mining and the declaration of a state of emergency to combat galamsey.
During the meeting, President Akufo-Addo appealed to Organised Labour to reconsider the planned strike, assuring them of his commitment to addressing their concerns. Subsequently, on Friday, October 4, the Infomation Minister, Fatimatu Abubakar issued a statement indicating the government’s commitment to dealing with the galamsey crisis.
But speaking in an interview on Eyewitness News on Citi FM on Friday, Prof Gyampo expressed his disapproval of the government’s communication strategy.
He emphasised that organised labour has not yet had the opportunity to brief its members on the developments, making the government’s statement seem hasty and unhelpful.
“First of all, Organised Labour is yet to meet with its membership to brief them on what really transpired. So, I don’t think that it lies in the mouth of the Minister of Information to deliberately issue that statement to create the impression that something is being done when Organised Labour has not even briefed its membership. It doesn’t help,” Prof Gyampo stated.
He further criticised the government’s approach, suggesting that it was more focused on gaining public sympathy rather than taking effective action against galamsey.
“Why the indecent haste to break the news, to achieve what? This is a fight against galamsey. It is not about asking for better conditions of service where you can use some of these propagandistic tendencies to try to sway or win public sympathy.
“Members of the public that we are fighting for are dying just as we are also dying. So, it is not about courting unnecessary sympathy, it is about doing the right thing,” he added.
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