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Minority Leader Alexander Afenyo-Markin has launched a scathing attack on the NDC government, accusing it of enabling illegal mining through its newly announced policy empowering the Gold Board (Goldbod) to purchase gold from small-scale miners.
Speaking during the debate on the 2026 Budget in Parliament on Thursday, November 27, Afenyo-Markin argued that the government’s posture reveals a complete abandonment of the fight against illegal mining—commonly known as galamsey.
“This government has surrendered to the galamsey activities. This government has become its enabler,” he declared.
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According to him, authorising the Gold Board to buy gold directly from small-scale miners contradicts the administration’s promise to clamp down on illicit mining. Instead, he said, the policy amounts to state-sponsored facilitation of unregulated mining practices.
“In this budget, the government announced the Gold Board to purchase gold from small-scale miners. They are not fighting illegal mining. The NDC government, through the Gold Board, is rather financing it. This is giving it state endorsement,” he insisted.
Afenyo-Markin warned that the strategy undermines law enforcement efforts, as the state would be unable to trace the source of the gold it purchases.
He argued that such a system rewards opacity and fuels the very crisis the government claims to be addressing.
“Today, their own government is demonstrating neither the seriousness nor commitment necessary to defeat it. Instead, it has set up a Gold Board to buy gold it cannot trace from miners it cannot verify in a system designed for complicity rather than enforcement. If this government cannot trace the gold, it must not buy the gold,” he stressed.
The Minority Leader also highlighted the dire implications of illegal mining on personnel fighting to curb the menace. He cited the tragic incident in which eight members of the National Mining Operations Squadron (NAIMOS) died while travelling to launch an anti-galamsey programme, an example he said underscores the danger frontline officers face.
“Today, members of NAIMOS are getting hurt, dead, and shot at in a fight their own government has abandoned. Eight lives were lost on their way to launch a programme to fight illegal mining,” he lamented.
Afenyo-Markin urged the government to rethink its approach, warning that adopting policies that legitimise unverified gold purchases only deepens the crisis.
He reiterated that any gold the state cannot trace should not be bought under any circumstances.
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