Professor Eric Abavare, the President of the University Teachers Association of Ghana (UTAG) at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), has said he is shocked to the marrow about the remarks made by the National Democratic Congress (NDC) Chairman, Johnson Asiedu Nketiah.
According to the KNUST UTAG President, John Asiedu Nketiah, comments on the declaration of a state of emergency on galamsey are reckless.
In a Facebook post in reaction to Asiedu Nketia’s comment, the UTAG president wrote, “I am shocked to the marrow about the recent reckless statement by the Chairman of NDC, Mr Asiedu Nketiah, aka General Mosquito, regarding the galamsey fight on Channel One TV face to face program.
I am shocked because he decrys calling a state of emergency as suspending the constitution in those galamsey-affected areas. My question to him, Mr Nketia, is, was he in Ghana when the state of emergency was called in Bawku? Was the Constitution also not suspended then?”.
According to the UTAG President, the NDC has changed its stance on the declaration of a state of emergency on galamsey.
“Before the general election, was calling the state of emergency not the position of the NDC? Not too long ago, we heard the President of Ghana, HE John Dramani Mahama, calling for the same thing. Since when did the calling of a state of emergency become a constitutional breach and the NDC Chairman change that position of his party and the President’s against galamsey fight?
So he knew this, and they were calling the erstwhile administration to do the same? What a 419 swindle of Ghanaians by the NDC Chairman”, he noted.
Prof Abavare further invoked the memory of Major Maxwell Mahama and the eight Ghanaians who perished in the August 6 helicopter crash.
“I challenge the ghosts of Major Maxwell Mahama and the perished eight officials that they sacrificed nothing with needless death for the cause of galamsey.
Mr Asiedu Nketia, I condemn your statement in the strongest terms possible and feel very sad too by it”, his post concluded.
The KNUST UTAG President’s comment comes after Johnson Asiedu Nketiah said he does not subscribe to calls from some sections of Ghanaians for the government to declare a state of emergency on galamsey.
Asiedu Nketia warn that the declaration of a state of emergency on galamsey will lead to the suspension of the constitution, which could lead to people shooting and killing at will.
According to Asiedu Nketia, illegal mining is a pressing issue, and the government is working to find solutions to it.
Speaking on Channel One TV’s Face to Face on Tuesday, August 26, Asiedu Nketia detailed, “Work is being done about the galamsey fight, and we hope to be able to find solutions to it. But I don’t subscribe to the declaration of the state of emergency as other people are suggesting. In your frustration, you can call for certain measures that, when we begin implementing, you may live to regret”.
“If you intend to deal with galamsey and you declare a state of emergency, it means you have suspended the constitution. People can shoot and kill at will. How will you be sure that those who are shooting and killing are the ones fighting galamsey? That is another matter,” he noted.
The NDC chairman further called on the public to propose constructive and sustainable solutions to the fight against illegal.
Asiedu Nketia emphasised that the fight against illegal mining must be deep-rooted in the rule of law rather than measures that will undermine Ghana’s democracy.
However, Dr Kenneth Ashigbey, the convenor of the Anti-Galamsey Coalition has called on the government to declare a state of emergency in communities in heavily impacted areas.
Speaking in an interview on Channel One TV’s The Point of View on Monday, August 18, Dr Ashigbey stated, “We need to deal with this as a national security crisis, and it ought to be dealt with. Another thing we have been talking about is the state of emergency; we’re not saying state of emergency in the whole of the country, not even the whole of the district. This particular community, this thing is happening, declare a state of emergency,” he stressed.
“Offin River in Dunkwa, for example, you can declare a state of emergency and say nobody should go into that water, so that you give special powers to the police, Forestry Commission to be able to deal with these people [galamseyers].”
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