Second Deputy Minority Whip Jerry Ahmed Shaib has launched a stinging critique of President John Dramani Mahama, accusing the administration of ineffectual action on illegal mining and of offering piety in place of policy while citizens perish in floodwaters. The parliamentary salvo escalates partisan friction over governance failures in environmental security and disaster management.
Speaking with measured intensity, Shaib contended that the executive has not demonstrated the requisite resolve to dismantle galamsey networks despite repeated pledges and recent national tragedy. He referenced the helicopter crash that claimed two Ministers of State as a watershed moment that ought to have galvanized decisive intervention. Instead, he argued, rhetoric has eclipsed enforcement, leaving riverine ecosystems and forest reserves under sustained assault.
The legislator further condemned the President’s posture during the National Day of Thanksgiving, describing it as incongruous with the grief of communities inundated by perennial floods. “It is untenable to thank God when lives are being lost to preventable disasters,” Shaib asserted, casting the remarks as emblematic of a broader disconnect between statecraft and citizen suffering.
According to the Office of the Minority in Parliament, Shaib’s intervention seeks to compel executive accountability through legislative scrutiny and public pressure. The Whip’s office underscored that galamsey constitutes both an environmental emergency and a fiscal hemorrhage, with attendant consequences for water security, public health, and agricultural productivity. The statement also catalogued stalled prosecutions, compromised task forces, and opaque licensing as symptomatic of institutional inertia.
Ghana’s struggle with illegal mining predates the current administration, yet the scale of degradation has intensified policy urgency across successive governments. Parallel to that, urban and peri-urban flooding continues to exact a human toll, exposing deficiencies in drainage, sanitation enforcement, and early-warning systems. Political analysts note that convergence of these crises tests the administration’s capacity to reconcile moral appeals with operational efficacy.
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*Author:* Korkor Anumu
*Source:* Office of the Minority in Parliament
