Mr Richard Ahiagbah, the Director of Communications for the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP), has criticized former President John Dramani Mahama's pledge to utilize Artificial Intelligence (AI) in combating illegal mining, labelling it as mere political rhetoric.

Mahama, the flagbearer of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), made the pledge during the '3rd Annual Transformational Dialogue on Small-scale Mining' organized by the University of Energy and Natural Resources in Sunyani. 

He outlined plans to employ AI technology to identify and monitor small-scale mining and galamsey operations, aiming to mitigate environmental degradation in the sector.

However, Mr Ahiagbah, in a post on his X platform formerly Twitter, dismissed Mahama's proposal as unrealistic, asserting that success in the fight against illegal mining requires comprehensive efforts beyond technological solutions.

 He accused the NDC of being proponents of illegal mining and questioned their credibility in addressing the galamsey menace.

Mr Ahiagbah cited instances to support his claims, including a widely publicized 2020 video featuring Kwaku Boahen, a former Deputy Communications Officer of the NDC, promising favourable conditions for galamsey operations in mining communities. 

Additionally, he referenced Mahama's 2020 campaign promise to pardon galamsey convicts at a political event in Mpohor.

Concluding his critique, Mr Ahiagbah emphasized the impossibility of resolving the galamsey issue under Mahama's leadership and urged voters to support the NPP's Vice President, Bawumia, for a more decisive approach to addressing the problem