Speaking at an Institute of Eco­nomic Affairs (IEA) presidential encounter in Accra on Tuesday, Mr Kyerematen outlined his poli­cy measures aimed at safeguarding Ghana’s water bodies should he be elected in the upcoming gener­al election.

The political encounter series seek to provide a platform for some selected presidential can­didates to articulate clearly, their vision and policies for the country as part of activities leading to the December 7 polls.

He argued that a 10-year prison sentence is not sufficient to deter individuals from engaging in galamsey and stressed the need for stricter punitive measures, in­cluding life imprisonment to curb the practice.

In addition, Mr Kyerematen promised to deploy state-of-the-art equipment to restore the country’s polluted river bodies, as­suring the public of his adminis­tration’s commitment to environ­mental protection and sustainable resource management.

“Impose a complete ban for one year on small-scale, communi­ty mining, whether legal or illegal, within one year we can clean all our river bodies…The intro­duction of new legislation and regulations will impose a complete ban on any form of mining in river bodies and forest reserves, with associated sanction regimes including life imprisonment for the violation of these new laws.

“Ghanaians, you need to get to the point where when you punish them they will feel the impact of the punishment. If it is just a question of 10 years, the amount of money that they may be getting from galamsey, it will not be enough deterrent, they will go in 10 years, come back and continue, So we have to be serious about how we deal with galamsey,” he added.

Mr Kyerematen promised to create youth mining companies to be provided with seed capital to acquire machines and equipment to mine responsibly and sustain­ably.

His propped solution to the galamsey menace comes as organ­ised labour threatens to embark on strike next week to compel the government to declare a state of emergency on illegal mining.