President Akuffo Addo declared war on galamsey, on assumption of office in 2017, and even put his presidency on the line to ensure that our communities, environment, forest and water bodies, are protected for present and future generations.
Some bold and pragmatic measures; including stakeholder engagements, consultations, seizure and burning of excavators, were consequently taken by government to affirm the president’s commitment to this course.
A six months ban was also imposed on galamsey; followed by arrests and prosecution of some Ghanaian and foreign nationals particularly Chinese, who were deported to their home countries.
Notable among these Chinese galamseyers is En Huan, popularly called Aisha Huang.
The President in June this year re – affirmed his pledge to protect the country’s mineral resources by calling for sustainable and responsible small-scale mining that supports government’s drive to maximize earnings from mining.
Notwithstanding this relentless warfare on galamsey, Metropolitan, Municipal and District Chief Executives (MMDCES) face considerable challenges in tackling the menace at the grassroot level.
Mr. Kwasi Bonzoh, the Ellembele DCE and Chairman of the District Security Committee (DISEC), believes this was largely due to involvement of numerous actors within the galamsey industry, particularly businessmen described as “chief financiers” and bent on taking advantage of every space within the mining industry.
In an interview with the New Crusading GUIDE, Mr. Bonzoh said the country would not make any progress in the galamsey fight by politicizing it.
He said it is also unfair to blame only politicians and chiefs for the menace, wondering how many of these leaders could part with hundreds of thousands of dollars for a single brand-new excavator.
Mr. Bonzoh is however optimistic that the fight would be successful if Ghanaians and for that matter residents in the various communities, team up with MMDCEs by providing them with information on galamsey sites, owners of those sites and their operations.
He recalled that at its recent conference in Ho, in the Volta region, the Ghana Bar Association made a similar call for prosecution of the main people behind the galamsey activities as prosecution of their labourers would not yield the expected results.
“In fact, these financiers behind the veil can always find new boys or labourers to mine for them. We must pierce the veil and expose them’’, Mr. Bonzoh reochoed GBA”s call.
He reiterated that the story will be different if Ghanaians joined the crusade as watchdogs and also whistle blowers to expose perpetrators of this horrendous trade, stressing that there is no way the galamsey fight will succeed without support from community folks.
The DCE cited recent the case in which a whistle-blower volunteered information on ongoing galamsey operation behind the Nkroful Agriculture Secondary School, to buttress his point.
He acknowledged that but for that tip-off, his office would not have learnt of considerable depletion of a portion of the school land by the galamseyers just within two days and expressed fears that any further delay in uncovering their activities would have led to irreparable damage to the entire Nkroful Community.
It is against this backdrop that he lauded the whistle blower for contributing to the galamsey fight in his own small way and urged other community members and stakeholders to emulate this patriotic action.
Mr. Bonzoh added his voice to passionate appeals by the president to traditional authorities and other opinion leaders, who are a major force in social mobilization efforts, to support government’s commitment to fighting galamsey.
From ongoing media discourse, he said it is evident that Ghanaians have become more conscious of the galamsey menace and willing to join the crusade.
He, therefore, implored all well-meaning citizens to join the conversation with a nonpartisan lens to help curb the menace and protect the nation’s resources and livelihood in general.
Recounting circumstances that led to the two missing excavators in his district, Mr. Bonzoh said information available to him indicates that the second excavator had also been found and expressed optimism that the police would soon confirm it to allay any fears in Ghanaians and stakeholders who were worried that the excavator could find its way into another galamsey site.
He pledged his office’s readiness to collaborate with the Police, sister MMDAs, traditional rulers and other stakeholders including community members, to battle illegal miners.
Mr. Kwasi Bonzoh also called for stiffer punishment for offenders to make illegal mining a less lucrative unattractive venture for Ghanaians and their Chinese accomplices.
He said the Minerals and Mining (Amendment) Act 2019, Act 995 prescribed stiffer punishment for offenders and called on law enforcement agencies and the judiciary to strictly enforce the law.
