{"id":96577,"date":"2025-10-01T09:05:00","date_gmt":"2025-10-01T09:05:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/?p=96577"},"modified":"2025-10-01T09:05:00","modified_gmt":"2025-10-01T09:05:00","slug":"galamsey-fight-surgical-strikes-not-blanket-emergency-sam-george-tells-critics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/?p=96577","title":{"rendered":"Galamsey fight: Surgical strikes not blanket emergency, Sam George tells critics"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n \t<\/i> Read Time:<\/span>3 Minute, 13 Second <\/div>\n\n <\/div>
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Communication Minister Sam Nartey George has rejected suggestions that he called for a state of emergency in the fight against illegal mining, insisting his call has always been for targeted operations. <\/p>\n

Speaking on JoyNews\u2019 PM Express<\/em> on September 30, he said surgical strikes by the security forces were the best way to deal with galamsey.<\/p>\n

\u201cLet me put it on record here, I have never talked about a state of emergency. I believe that you can have targeted operations without necessarily declaring a state of emergency. <\/p>\n

\u201cPeople have said \u2018Sam George calls for a state of emergency\u2019\u2026I have never, ever called for a state of emergency,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The minister described galamsey as Ghana\u2019s most pressing threat. <\/p>\n

\u201cDon\u2019t forget I said, and I still stand by, that galamsey remains the biggest existential threat to our nation, and that galamsey is Ghana\u2019s version of Colombia\u2019s drug cartels. <\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve said that you can have targeted surgical operations led by our security forces. And I believe that we\u2019re on our way there,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Mr George said President Mahama had shown more will to deal with the problem than the previous government. <\/p>\n

\u201cPresident Mahama has been president for nine months now. Do I wish I have seen more? Absolutely. I wish it\u2019s ended today. <\/p>\n

\u201cBut in the nine months, I can confidently say that I see a desire and a will to deal with galamsey that didn\u2019t exist in the previous eight years,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

He contrasted Mahama\u2019s actions with the past administration. <\/p>\n

\u201cI see a president who has asked the security services to investigate two of his own national executives on allegations of being involved in galamsey. <\/p>\n

\u201cMeanwhile, under the previous president, you had a regional chairman talking to a minister saying that they must engage in galamsey because \u2018party hiya sika.\u2019 <\/p>\n

\u201cAnd the president went to campaign for that individual in their party\u2019s elections. You saw the tacit endorsement of the presidency then of party apparatchiks getting involved in galamsey,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

According to him, President Mahama had already chalked up progress. <\/p>\n

\u201cI see a president who, under the immediate past, may his soul rest in peace, Defence Minister Dr Omane Boamah, had the military carry out operations and recover seven out of nine forest reserves where mining operations were. All of this, in seven months. <\/p>\n

\u201cIn fact, on Friday, October 3, the president has invited over 30 CSOs to come and sit with him, for us to develop that roadmap and work collectively to rid our country of the menace of galamsey,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Mr George added that while progress had been made, enforcement needed to go further. <\/p>\n

\u201cA lot more in terms of enforcement, we could move a bit faster. I believe that there could be a lot more. And again, I see the work. I see the briefs in the cabinet that the Minister for Lands and Natural Resources brings, the joint briefs between himself and other sectoral ministers working towards this. <\/p>\n

\u201cSo I have seen it, and I know what\u2019s going on. I\u2019m just saying that we need, we don\u2019t need to rest on our oars,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

He said Ghanaians voted for a change, and the government had a duty to deliver. <\/p>\n

\u201cGhanaians voted for us as a political party because they thought that we will do better, and we should do better. And all I\u2019m saying is, let\u2019s not rest on our oars. <\/p>\n

\u201cYes, the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources has started fantastically well. They\u2019re doing a lot of work, working under the auspices of the president. But let\u2019s not relent. <\/p>\n

\u201cLet\u2019s go all out and win this war, if not for anything, in memory of the eight gallant sons who died in the helicopter crash,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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