{"id":114697,"date":"2026-02-09T21:22:18","date_gmt":"2026-02-09T21:22:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/?p=114697"},"modified":"2026-02-09T21:22:18","modified_gmt":"2026-02-09T21:22:18","slug":"a-tax-for-galamsey-dr-manteaw-warns-ndc-against-shielding-galamsey-dces","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/?p=114697","title":{"rendered":"\u2018A Tax For Galamsey\u2019: Dr Manteaw warns NDC against shielding \u2018galamsey\u2019 DCEs"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The National Democratic Congress (NDC) government is facing a critical internal test following a bombshell JoyNews<\/strong> investigation that has linked a District Chief Executive (DCE) to a systematic extortion racket fuelling illegal mining. <\/p>\n

Dr Steve Manteaw, a policy analyst and natural resource governance advocate, has issued a warning to the party\u2019s rank and file, urging them to prioritise the national interest over partisan loyalty in the fight against \u2018galamsey\u2019.<\/p>\n

Dr Manteaw\u2019s comments come in the wake of the documentary titled \u2018A Tax for Galamsey\u2019<\/em>, which has ignited public outrage by exposing how local government officials allegedly \u201clegalised\u201d environmental destruction through illicit taxation.<\/p>\n

Inside the \u2018Pay-to-Destroy\u2019 syndicate<\/strong><\/p>\n

The JoyNews documentary, which aired on Monday, February 9, 2026, and has continued to dominate headlines, revealed a pay-to-destroy syndicate operating in the shadows of the mining sector. <\/p>\n

The investigation followed the money trail, capturing high-ranking local officials\u2014including the Amansie Central DCE \u2014 implicated in collecting \u201cfees\u201d from illegal miners in exchange for protection.<\/p>\n

Dr Manteaw argued that any attempt by NDC supporters to defend these officials would be a betrayal of President John Dramani Mahama\u2019s stated commitment to environmental preservation. <\/p>\n

He noted that the actions of these DCEs are directly undermining the President\u2019s authority and the credibility of the party\u2019s conservation policies.<\/p>\n

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\u201cI urge all NDC supporters NOT to defend the unscrupulous DCEs who are undermining the President\u2019s fight against galamsey,\u201d Dr Manteaw declared, calling for immediate administrative and criminal sanctions against those named in the expos\u00e9.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

The fallout from the documentary has led to a chorus of demands from civil society for the immediate dismissal of the implicated DCE.<\/p>\n

Executive Director of the Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA), Sulemana Braimah, and Convenor of the Media Coalition Against Illegal Mining, Kenneth Ashigbey, have both joined Dr Manteaw in calling for the dismissal of the officials found culpable.<\/p>\n

In response, the Minister of State in charge of Government Communications, Felix Kwakye Ofosu, has assured Ghanaians that all individuals found culpable in the alleged illegal mining taxation scheme exposed in the JoyNews Hotline documentary will face the full rigours of the law.<\/p>\n

Speaking in an interview on JoyNews\u2019\u00a0The Pulse<\/em>\u00a0on Monday, Mr Kwakye Ofosu said the government will not shield anyone involved in wrongdoing, stressing that accountability applies regardless of status or political affiliation.<\/p>\n

\u201cOnce evidence of wrongdoing comes to light, you\u2019d be taken up. It doesn\u2019t matter who is involved. Whilst there\u2019s evidence of wrongdoing, the law will take its course,\u201d he stated.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The National Democratic Congress (NDC) government is facing a critical internal test following a bombshell JoyNews investigation that has linked a District Chief Executive (DCE) to a systematic extortion racket fuelling illegal mining.<\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":{"facebook_2277560469115098_106292521332774":"","twitter_aToxNzczMzI3Njk4OTg4ODUxMjAxOw==_1773327698988851200":""},"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[196,2047,2004,1883,117,10,9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-114697","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-galamsey","category-hp-news-9","category-mining","category-national","category-news","category-politics","category-popular"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/114697","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=114697"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/114697\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=114697"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=114697"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=114697"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}