President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo in a meeting with the National House of Chiefs and Metropolitan, Municipal, and District Chief Executives to discuss the problem of galamsey in the country which took place today, Wednesday, October 5, 2022, at Manhyia in the Ashanti Region, said he was being honest to Ghanaians adding that his determination to rid the country of galamsey has come at a cost to the New Patriotic Party (NPP).

“I am in the last elections, it cost us especially in the Western Region, most of the mining communities in the area turned their back on us, only two exceptions, Tarkwa and Bibiani, the rest turned their back on us, so there is a political cause to the fight we are waging” a cost we should be prepare to pay in the interest of Ghana, he said

He stated that the declaration to put his presidency on line was "neither bombast nor reckless" but one that was a "simple truth".

"Indeed, in the 2020 election, my stance on the issue caused my party and I significant loses in the mining communities," he said.

"Since I took office on January 7, 2017, nearly six years ago, I have made it a central feature of my presidency to lead in the effort to rid our country of this menace. Indeed, it was an important aspect of my inaugural speech of that day. It has not been easy and we have not got the immediate result that I was looking for.

He also called on Ghanaians to exclude partisanship in the fight against galamsey.

He said Ghanaians must fight the canker without any bias because it's a threat to our existence.

In 2017, the President addressing a workshop on galamsey for traditional leaders said he needed to proceed cautiously since the people involved were the same people who had voted him into power, and that should he take such a decision against them, they would not vote for him in the next election.

Rallying Ghana's traditional leaders together, the President said if there is one right thing to be done, that thing is for all to fight galamsey, reclaim the lands and leave for posterity a "green country" and a "clean space."

 story: Eric Murphy Asare