MP Accuses Ex-MP Of Galamsey

The Member of Parliament for Banda Constituency in the Brong Ahafo Region, Ahmed Ibrahim, is accusing the former Member of Parliament for Tain, Joe Danquah, of engaging in illegal mining at Dokokyina in the catchment area of the Bui Hydro Dam, but Mr Danquah has denied the accusation. According to Mr Ibrahim, the former MP is also engaged in galamsey at Banda Nkwanta. He said Joe Danquah, as a former legislator, should know better and desist from the illegal business and stop accusing the authorities of not doing anything about the situation at Dokokyina. He noted that the Brong Ahafo Regional Security Council (REGSEC) has given a two-week ultimatum to the illegal miners at Dokokyina to stop their illegal activities. �Joe Danquah is engaged in galamsey at Banda Nkwanta and Dokokyina; you can go there to find out if Joe Danquah is not engaged in the illegal business I am talking about,� he noted. The former MP for Tain, Joe Danquah, in his reaction to the allegation revealed that he is a gold dealer and has been in the business for 20 years but has never engaged in galamsey. �Who is Ahmed? When I started my gold business 20 years ago he was pushing trucks on the streets of Sunyani; he does not know what he is talking about. I know dealing in gold business is not an illegal business. If this is the way he would do his politics then I am ready for him. I buy gold, but [I am] not engaged in galamsey as he is alleging,� Joe Danquah said. The Member of Parliament (MP) for Tano North Constituency, Freda Prempeh, blamed the National Security for not doing enough to stop illegal mining at Dokokyina in the Bui Hydro Dam catchment area. �If six households with a population of 15 could increase to 5,000 then it tells you that the security were not swift enough to have stopped the illegal mining there,� she noted.