The President of the University Teachers Association of Ghana (UTAG) at Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), Prof. Eric Abavare, has declared that former President John Dramani Mahama “does not qualify” to be reinstated as President due to his stance on the arrest and prosecution of illegal miners, known as galamsey operators, during the 2020 elections.
During the 2020 campaign, the National Democratic Congress (NDC) flagbearer, Mahama, criticized the Akufo-Addo administration for jailing Ghanaian galamsey operators, while allowing “a galamsey queen [Aisha Huang] to return to her country, China,” when she was arrested. Mahama pledged, “When we come into power, we will grant amnesty to those who were arrested for galamsey to come back. I believe these operators are remorseful for any law they violated, so we will bring them out and give them another chance.”
His comments were met with cheers from the youth during a durbar at Odum-Banso in the Western Region. However, Prof. Abavare disagrees with Mahama’s stance. Speaking to journalists, he said, “He doesn’t even qualify to be the president of Ghana.”
Commenting further on the issue of illegal mining, Prof. Abavare said, “We know the solution, we know those involved, we know what we can do to solve it. The issue is that we don’t want to do it.” He criticized both major political parties for their handling of the galamsey problem and did not spare the current government either. He described President Nana Akufo-Addo as “a big liar,” expressing disappointment that he had to say so publicly.
Prof. Abavare recalled incidents involving Prof. Frimpong-Boateng, the former Minister of Environment, who was seizing excavators used in illegal mining. “The president made us believe he was doing the wrong thing,” he stated. He continued, “Nana Addo has all the powers to stop galamsey if he wants to. The point is that he doesn’t want to. If they are not willing to solve the problem, they must not be in office.”
He concluded by asserting, “If the president really wants to solve it, he will say that from now on he does not want to see any earthmoving machine on our road anywhere. That statement alone will suffice.”