Following a bombshell JoyNews investigation connecting a District Chief Executive (DCE) to a wide extortion plot that funded illicit mining, the National Democratic Congress (NDC) government is facing a serious internal examination. Dr Steve Manteaw, a policy analyst and natural resource governance advocate, warned the party’s rank and file to put the national interest ahead of partisan commitment in the fight against ‘galamsey’.
Dr Manteaw’s remarks follow the release of a documentary called “A Tax for Galamsey”, which has sparked public anger by revealing how local government officials purportedly justified environmental degradation through illegal taxation.
Inside the ‘Pay-to-Destroy’ gang.
The JoyNews documentary, which aired on Monday, February 9, 2026, and has since dominated headlines, exposed a pay-to-destroy organisation operating in the shadows of the mining industry.The probe followed the money trail and apprehended high-ranking local authorities, including the Amansie Central DCE, who were accused of taking payments from illicit miners in return for security. Dr. Manteaw asserted that any attempt by NDC supporters to defend these officials would be a breach of President John Dramani Mahama’s proclaimed dedication to environmental conservation.
He noted that these DCEs’ activities are immediately undermining the President’s power and the party’s conservation agenda. “I beg all NDC members NOT to defend the irresponsible DCEs who are sabotaging the President’s efforts to combat galamsey,” Dr. Manteaw stated, calling for immediate administrative and criminal penalties for those identified in the exposé.
The film’s aftermath has sparked a barrage of calls from civil society for the guilty District Chief Executive to be sacked immediately. Sulemana Braimah, Executive Director of the Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA), and Kenneth Ashigbey, Convener of the Media Coalition Against Illegal Mining, have both requested the dismissal of officials found guilty.
In response, the Minister of State in charge of Government Communications, Felix Kwakye Ofosu, has guaranteed Ghanaians that anybody found guilty in the suspected unlawful mining tax scam revealed in the JoyNews Hotline documentary will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.
Speaking to JoyNews’ The Pulse on Monday, Mr. Kwakye Ofosu stated that the government will not protect anyone who committed crimes, adding that accountability applies regardless of position or political affiliation.
“Once evidence of wrongdoing comes to light, you would be taken up. It doesn’t matter who is involved. While there is evidence of misconduct, the law will take its course,” he said.
Source: Myjoyonline.com
