A leading member of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Owusu Bempah, has openly criticised his own party for attacking the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) over illegal mining, popularly known as galamsey.
Speaking in a recent media engagement, Mr. Bempah said the NPP lacks the moral authority to accuse the NDC of failing to tackle galamsey because the governing party also fell short of addressing the problem when it was in power.
“Under former President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, our own members were involved in galamsey. We couldn’t fight it. He couldn’t achieve his dream of fighting galamsey,” he stated.
The outspoken party stalwart stressed that the NPP’s leadership “has failed in all directions” and should first put its own house in order before criticising its political rivals.
“We must work and achieve a high moral ground before any criticism would be justified,” he added.
Mr. Bempah’s comments add to a growing chorus of voices calling for a bipartisan, non-political approach to ending illegal mining, which has devastated water bodies and farmlands across the country.
