Minority Leader Alexander Afenyo-Markin has accused the NDC government of enabling illegal mining, alleging that its decision to allow the Gold Board (Goldbod) to purchase gold from small-scale miners effectively finances galamsey activities.
Commenting on the 2026 Budget before Parliament on Thursday, November 27, Afenyo-Markin said the government’s posture shows it has “surrendered” to illegal mining rather than fighting it.
“This government has surrendered to the galamsey activities. This government has become its enabler,” he stated.
He argued that the budget’s announcement empowering the Gold Board to buy gold from small-scale miners contradicts the government’s claim of combating illegal mining. According to him, the move provides state endorsement for unregulated mining operations.
“In this budget, the government announced the Gold Board to purchase gold from small-scale miners. They are not fighting illegal mining. The NDC government, through the Gold Board, is financing it. This is giving it state endorsement,” he said.
Transitioning to the impact on personnel fighting illegal mining, the Minority Leader noted that members of NAIMOS continue to face danger. At the same time, the government looks on, recalling the eight lives that were lost when travelling to launch a programme aimed at combating galamsey.
“Today, members of NAIMOS are getting hurt, dead, shot at in a fight their own government has abandoned. Eight lives were lost on their way to launch a programme to fight illegal mining,” he lamented.
Afenyo-Markin further criticised the government for failing to demonstrate the seriousness and commitment needed to end illegal mining. He contended that setting up a Gold Board to buy gold that cannot be traced to miners who cannot verify, only fuels complicity rather than enforcement.
“Today, their own government is demonstrating neither the seriousness nor commitment necessary to defeat it. Instead, it has set up a Gold Board to buy gold it cannot trace, miners it cannot verify, in a system designed for complicity rather than enforcement. If this government cannot trace the gold, it must not buy the gold,” he stressed.
In a related development, Afenyo-Markin has strongly criticised the 2026 Budget Statement and Economic Policy Document, describing it as a “cut-and-paste” compilation that fails to provide a fresh policy direction.
Debating the policy document in Parliament on Thursday, November 27, he accused the Ministry of Finance of failing in its mandate to present a carefully prepared and accurate budget.
According to Afenyo-Markin, the document contains multiple errors, including references to ministries that have been scrapped or renamed by the current government.
“How can you, at paragraph 519, claim that there is a Ministry of Railway Development? How can you, at paragraph 528, say there is a Ministry of Sanitation and Water Resources, and at paragraph 523 refer to a Ministry of Works and Housing?” he questioned.
The Minority Leader, who is also the Member of Parliament for Effutu, said many of the policies outlined in the 2026 budget were recycled from previous budget statements, rather than reflecting new strategies or initiatives.
He demanded that the government present a properly prepared, factually accurate budget for parliamentary approval.
“This document has been brought to Parliament in haste. This document must be withdrawn and a new budget brought before Parliament,” he stated.
