Professor of Finance and University of Ghana economist, Prof. Godfred Bokpin, has called for a national review of the Mahama government’s fight against illegal mining to establish whether the administration is meeting its targets.
He said Ghanaians needed to assess the government’s progress based on measurable results rather than the number of arrests made or mining equipment seized.
Speaking on Newsfile, Prof. Bokpin questioned whether the government had set clear objectives and milestones when it assumed office to guide its response to illegal mining.
“We need to ask ourselves: what were the clear targets we set for ourselves as a country when the new administration took over, in terms of how it wanted to respond to irresponsible mining?” he asked.
He argued that the government must show whether its interventions were producing the desired results instead of relying mainly on figures relating to arrests and seized changfans.
“Are we looking at it just in terms of the number of arrests, changfans and all of that? What were the goals? What were the targets? What were the objectives? The milestones?” he queried.
With President John Dramani Mahama having spent more than one and a half years in office, the economist believes the country should review the administration’s performance and determine whether it is on track.
“I think President Mahama has been in office for more than one and a half years; we should have a national review. Are we on track? Is that all we ask for the government to do? Is that all that the government will be able to achieve within one and a half years?” he asked.
