Stop the hypocrisy - Okatakyie Afrifa chides Sefa Kayi over galamsey advocacy

Host of Angel FM’s morning show, Okatakyie Afrifa-Mensah, has reacted to the advocacy against illegal mining (galamsey) by the ace broadcaster, Kwami Sefa Kayi.

Okatakyie commended Kwami Sefa Kayi for using his Kokrokoo Morning Show platform to campaign against the illegal mining menace which has devastated some forests and river bodies in the country.

Kwame Afrifa-Mensah, however, expressed dissatisfaction, accusing Kwami Sefa Kayi of hypocrisy. Afrifa-Mensah believes that Sefa Kayi is not targeting his advocacy efforts appropriately. He claims that influential figures in the illegal mining sector frequently appear as guests on Sefa Kayi’s show. Instead of addressing the issue broadly, Afrifa-Mensah argues that Sefa Kayi should directly confront these individuals during their appearances.

Okatakyie Afrifa-Mensah claims that Sefa Kayi has relationships with some of the powerful persons involved in the menace and that he should mention their names and urge them to stop.

I have seen the comments by Kwami Sefa Kayi and I believe it’s a good call. However, it is high time the senior journalists in this country stop the hypocrisy. I like Kwami Sefa Kayi, but the hypocrisy needs to end.

All the big names in the galamsey canker appear on his show every morning. He hosts those people every morning. He knows them, so why can’t he tell them to their faces? There are journalists and politicians involved, and he knows them.

“We all respect him, but the hypocrisy must stop. If he knows that galamsey is bad, then he should be honest enough to name the people involved. So when they come on his show, he should tell them. He is friends with all the people involved,” he said on Angel FM.

Sefa Kayi's advocacy against galamsey

Okatakyie’s claim comes on the back of Sefa Kayi’s caution that the nation risks raising rebels if the galamsey menace degrading the environment is not clamped down immediately.

“You know what I fear? Do you know that we are creating a rebel armed force? We are creating rebels out of this (galamsey). So let’s say about four hundred people are wielding 100 guns; these galamseyers are armed. So, bit by bit, by the time we realise, they’ve turned into what is known as a ragtag army, who are soldiers not properly trained but are armed and know how to fire rifles.”

“If they decide that they will block the Accra-Kumasi highway, they can do that easily. That is the problem we are faced with. When it comes to the issue of security, I have an interest. If these galamseyers, about 300 of them, decide to block that very important road, what will we do? By the time security personnel are deployed to that area, they will have finished their operation long ago,” Sefa Kayi stated.

An earlier report by Pulse Ghana indicated that Okatakyie has revealed the names and phone numbers of several individuals allegedly involved in the destructive practice of illegal mining and urged Ghanaians to question their activities directly. According to Okatakyie, these illegal miners are often shielded by powerful political and business interests.

Read Full Story