Mahama’s AI pledge to fight galamsey ‘a vote-seeking gimmick’ – Ahiagbah

On May 17, 2024, 2:01 AM

The Director of Communications for the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Richard Ahiagbah, has described John Mahama’s pledge to use Artificial Intelligence to fight illegal mining if elected president in the upcoming December polls as mere political rhetoric.

The flagbearer of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) made this pledge at the ‘3rd Annual Transformational Dialogue on Small-scale Mining’ organized by the University of Energy and Natural Resources in Sunyani.

According to Mr Mahama, his government will use “AI to locate all small-scale mining and galamsey operations, track excavators, and geofence all concessions” to help coordinate and monitor activities within the small-scale mining sector to reduce environmental destruction.

However, Mr. Ahiagbah in a post on his X handle said it is impossible to win the fight against galamsey with Mahama as President.

He claimed that during Mahama’s administration, he and certain appointees encouraged galamsey in various forms and profited from it, which raises doubt about the party’s credibility.

“The NDC are promoters of galamsey. Therefore, H.E Mahama’s promise to use an AI-powered plan to combat galamsey is a vote-seeking gimmick. Galamsey is an existential problem that requires inputs from all strata of society to combat. Resolving the galamsey menace is impossible with H.E John Mahama and the NDC because they are promoters and beneficiaries of galamsey.

Ahiagbah further referred to some cases, including what he said was a “widely publicized 2020 video of Kwaku Boahen, then Deputy Communications Officer of the NDC, promising a golden age of galamsey to voters in mining communities across the country,” and also Mahama’s promise “to free galamsey convicts in 2020, at a campaign event at Mpohor,” to buttress his point that the fight against galamsey under a Mahama administration will be fruitless.

The NDC are promoters of glamsey. Therefore, H.E Mahama’s promise to use AI powered plan to combat galamsey is a vote-seeking gimmick. Galamsy is an existential problem that requires inputs from all strata of society to combat. Resolving the galamsey manace is impossible with… pic.twitter.com/78v4GwF8Pm

— Richard Ahiagbah (@RAahiagbah) May 16, 2024

Story By Sandra Adei Djanie