The audacity is breathtaking. In a chilling display of the prevailing political arrogance characterising the current administration, the Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Free Zones Authority (GFZA) has effectively drawn a battle line against the moral conscience of our nation. By threatening the Chairman of the Church of Pentecost, Apostle Eric Nyamekye, with the ominous warning, “We’ll treat you as a politician next time,” the CEO has not just stepped out of line; she has unveiled the deep-seated intolerance that defines the current National Democratic Congress (NDC) administration’s approach to governance.
As a journalist who has spent over a decade and a half navigating the corridors of power and documenting the shifting sands of our political landscape, I find this reaction entirely predictable. It is the classic “us-versus-them” syndrome that has historically plagued the NDC. When you lack the intellectual rigour and the policy efficacy to solve a crisis, you inevitably resort to silencing the messenger.
Let us be clear: Apostle Nyamekye did not speak as a partisan actor; he spoke as the leader of one of Ghana’s largest religious bodies, expressing a collective national frustration regarding the unabated destruction of our water bodies and farmlands by galamsey. For that, he has been targeted by a government appointee who seemingly views environmental advocacy as an affront to political hegemony.
This vitriol stands in jarring contrast to the NDC’s rhetoric during the 2024 campaign trail. Recall the lofty, moralising promises made by the opposition—now in government—about restoring the dignity of our natural resources. They campaigned on the platform of being the saviours of the environment, criticising the then-government’s perceived lack of willpower. Yet, here we are in 2026, and the situation is not only worse, but it is also being aggressively protected by the very establishment that claimed they would dismantle the galamsey menace.
The Free Zones CEO’s outburst is not a rogue comment; it is a reflection of the party’s historical DNA. For years, the NDC has treated dissent as a form of heresy. Whether it is civil society, the clergy, or media houses, the party’s default setting has always been to label criticism as political sabotage. When they were in opposition, they weaponised the galamsey fight to score electoral points. Now in power, they treat the same galamsey menace with kid gloves while reserving their heaviest artillery for anyone—like Apostle Nyamekye—who has the courage to ask why our rivers remain chocolate brown.
The irony is thick enough to cut with a knife. This government, which promised a “reset” of our national values, is now policing the speech of religious leaders. If a high-ranking government official can openly threaten a prominent member of the clergy for speaking on a matter of national survival, what hope is there for the ordinary citizen?
This episode confirms a bitter truth: the NDC’s approach to the galamsey crisis is not a failure of strategy; it is a failure of character. They are more committed to protecting the political sensibilities of their appointees than they are to protecting the legacy of our land. By attacking the Church, they have admitted that they have no answers—only threats.
The Ghanaian public must recognise this for what it is: a desperate attempt to shrink the space for public discourse. We cannot allow the arrogance of the few to silence the conscience of the many. If the government’s response to the devastation of our water bodies is to threaten the clergy, then it is the government itself that has become the greatest threat to our nation’s future.
