Leader of the Minority in parliament, Mr. Afenyo-Markin urged MPs to look beyond electoral interests and focus on protecting the environment and the nation’s future.

“The issue of galamsey calls for collective action—not an NDC-NPP affair, but a Ghana affair,” he warned. “It shouldn’t be that because of votes, you look away or condone lawlessness. If we don’t act decisively, those votes we chase could end up being meaningless—buried in a coffin of environmental destruction," he told his fellow MPs in parliament.

His remarks follow the Speaker of Parliament’s criticism of the reported role two MPs played in an assault on officers from the National Anti-Illegal Mining Operations Secretariat (NAIMOS). The Speaker cautioned that Parliament will not shield any lawmaker who is proven to have acted improperly.

The Speaker says he has ordered the Office of the Clerk and the Legal Services Office to assist the Ghana Police Service's investigation into the alleged involvement of two Members of Parliament in an attack on officials of the National Anti-Illegal Mining Operations Secretariat (NAIMOS).

Member of Parliament for Asutifi North, Ebenezer Kwaku Addo, and the MP for Asutifi South, Collins Dauda are alleged to have played roles in the incident.

While condemning the act in parliament , the Speaker says; “I have therefore instructed the Office of the Clerk and the Legal Services Office to provide all necessary support to the Ghana Police Service in its investigations, within the framework of the 1992 Constitution, the laws of this country, and the Standing Orders of the House.”

The NAIMOS task force allegedly encountered resistance from some young people while conducting an operation near Bronikrom–Hwediem.

According to reports, the team had arrested two suspected illegal miners and confiscated vehicles and weapons, a development said to have triggered agitation among residents who intervened and brought the operation to a halt.

Speaker Bagbin has declared that no Member of Parliament will be shielded from accountability, following reports linking some National Democratic Congress (NDC) MPs to the act.

Speaking on the floor of Parliament on Tuesday, November 4, the speaker dismissed claims of lawmakers being protected from investigations, assuring Ghanaians that Parliament remains fully cooperative with security agencies probing its members.

“There are so many Members of Parliament who are under investigation, and my office has never shielded any Member of Parliament. Many have volunteered themselves without coming through my office, and so let it not be said anywhere that Members of Parliament are being shielded from the rule of law,” he stated.

Government in July set up the National Anti-Illegal Mining Operations Secretariat (NAIMOS) in efforts to curb illegal mining activities (galamsey) in the country.

Speaking during an update on Wednesday, July 23, the Minister for Lands and Natural Resources, Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah, disclosed that the newly established Secretariat will act as the brain of Ghana’s anti-illegal mining operations.

“To coordinate the efforts of the military, police, and other security agencies, the ministry has established the National Anti-Illegal Mining Operations Secretariat (NAIMOS) as the operational nerve-centre for Ghana’s fight against illegal small-scale mining,” he stated.

The Secretariat is expected to collaborate with other key institutions, such as the Ministry of Transport, the Ministry of Finance (GRA-Customs Division), and the Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority, as part of their mandate.

Their collaboration will ensure that excavators and other earth-moving equipment that enter the country are not diverted to illegal mining activities.

“In collaboration with the Ministry of Transport and the Ministry of Finance (GRA-Customs Division), and the Ports and Harbours Authority, we have initiated a proactive tracking of all imports of excavators and earth-moving equipment from the point of entry,” he added.

In addition to the measures currently being put in place in the fight against galamsey, President Mahama, during the maiden Media Encounter, revealed that his outfit is “...organising a trip to Australia to see how small-scale mining is done without destroying the environment.”

President Mahama also addressed the growing public and political pressure to ban the importation of excavators due to their widespread use in galamsey operations, stating that,

“We cannot place an outright ban on the importation of excavators into the country because they are not only used by illegal miners but also by genuine contractors, among others.”

Also, due to the devastating and deadly effects of galamsey, several stakeholders, including Convener, Media Coalition Against Galamsey, Ken Ashigbey, some civil society groups and environmental advocates have made calls for a state of emergency to be declared by the Mahama-led administration, but President Mahama has rejected them.

According to him, “I’ve been reluctant to implement a state of emergency in the galamsey fight because we’ve not exhausted the powers we even have without a state of emergency. We have the opportunity to arrest anybody, to confiscate any such thing. The laws for forest protection and all that give us enough powers to be able to act.”

Galamsey is one major challenge and a cancer eating into the country’s ecosystem. The fight against it is a long-standing one with little to no positive and generally significant and impressive effect; however, past and present administrations remain relentless in the fight against the environmental demon.

Ghana in August lost right gallant men who were en route to an event on anti-galamsey in a gory and heart-wrenching plane crash on August 6, in Adansi.

They were burned beyond recognition while on their way to an event to dissuade Ghanaians from engaging in illegal mining activities. Their remains had to be collected in cocoa sacks for forensic examination.

Consequently, their death heightened calls from officials, concerned citizens and other stakeholders on President Mahama to be fierce and stern in his fight against the menace.