Director of Communications for the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Richard Ahiagbah, has questioned John Dramani Mahama’s promise to use Artificial Intelligence (AI) to combat illegal mining, claiming it is purely political talk.
In a social media post, Ahiagbah declared that with Mr. Mahama at the helm, addressing the issue of galamsey would be an impossible task. He accused the National Democratic Congress (NDC) of actively supporting illegal mining activities.
Ahiagbah stressed the urgent need for a united effort from all sectors of society to tackle galamsey, an issue he described as a threat to Ghana’s existence. However, he expressed doubts about the NDC’s sincerity in dealing with the problem.
According to Ahiagbah, the NDC and its leader are complicit in perpetuating illegal mining, so their promises in this regard should not be taken seriously.
At the 3rd Annual Transformational Dialogue on Small-scale Mining at the University of Energy and Natural Resources (UENR) in Sunyani, John Dramani Mahama outlined his strategy to utilize AI in addressing illegal mining activities if re-elected.
He proposed using AI technology to identify all small-scale mining and galamsey operations, monitor excavator movements, and establish geofences around mining concessions. The aim is to improve coordination and monitoring within the small-scale mining sector to reduce environmental damage caused by illegal mining.
However, Ahiagbah remains unconvinced by this pledge from the former President and believes that resolving the galamsey issue is unattainable with Mr. Mahama and the NDC due to their alleged involvement in and benefit from illegal mining activities.
