Galamsey - An Issue of Votes over Lives

Time management is an oxymoron. Time is beyond our control, and the clock keeps ticking regardless of how we lead our lives. Priority management is the answer to maximizing the time we have.

~John C. Maxwell

Small scale mining widely known in Ghana as Galamsey is a popular menace in our communities. It is one problem that has stayed with us for decades and yet attempts to eliminate it has always proved futile. There is not a single Ghanaian who is oblivious of the harm these activities cost the country.

In the wisdom of the Almighty, He endowed our lands with natural resources to make our lives easy. However, the activities of a few individuals have made little usefulness of these precious minerals. While we have had political leaders who haven't done so much as far as exploitation of these minerals to ease the burden of the hardship our countrymen go through, the activities of these miners do a lot more harm. The fight against Galamsey has been the toughest second to corruption. The difficulty in eliminating this menace can equally be attributed to its 'older brother', corruption, which is highly common among the institutions responsible for bringing a halt to these obvious illegal or otherwise 'legal' operations of small scale miners. The inability of our institutions to work effectively as a result of political influences has maintained Galamsey as a seemingly insurmountable hurdle for this country.

Galamsey operators at work

Galamsey is a common practice in the Western, Ashanti, Eastern, Brong -Ahafo regions and other areas of the country. This practice is usually carried out in water bodies located in these areas, polluting them and putting its constituents at a great risk of serious medical conditions. Galamsey which started as an activity by locals of the affected communities has now been taken over greatly by Chinese counterparts. The involvement of the Chinese has intensified the devastating nature of these operations by the use of complex machinery that ruin our lands and water bodies. Recently, research has shown that the country risks providing potable water to its citizens by 2030. Ghana is likely to import water for consumption if galamsey is left unattended.

This is where the matter gets very serious. The entire nation suffers a crisis in the future because a group of individuals needs to enrich themselves. There are several questions that come to mind when the issue of fighting galamsey comes up:
What are the hindrances to the fight against Galamsey?
What fraction of Ghanaians is involved in the act?
How do these machinery get into the country?
Who oversees the operations of these miners?
 What role does the government play in eliminating this menace? Etc.
I won't bother so much trying to answer these questions but I hope in the end the answers would be obvious.

Why has the fight against Galamsey suddenly been intensified? Haven't we had it all along? Did we just realize it effects on our waters? These questions get anyone (interested in this fight) thinking hard. Quite not surprising, the severity of a matter dies out within a week in this country. While the media houses will not keep silent on any serious issue like this one, it only takes a week or two to lose focus. I only hope this fight against Galamsey does not end in the same manner as we have treated all other issues. The reason is simple! The consequences of this Galamsey act will eventually affect us all. I know there are news items that come up each day but this should not prevent us from achieving our ultimate goal of ending this menace. We cannot afford to leave this battle with the politician in the warfront- we would fail! Why do I say so? On any day, the politician will surely choose votes over lives. You can never get the politician to rally behind you all the time when his or her career is at stake. As expected, a group of Galamsey miners recently threatened to vote the NPP government out of office should they dare adhere to the call to end Galamsey. Really? Have we got to this point already? And as I equally expected, I did not receive a counter message from the government reiterating its stance on Galamsey operation. Well, while some may expect the government to ignore such threats and focus on the Galamsey fight, I believe a statement from the Presidency reiterating the government's intention to end Galamsey regardless would have been assuring enough. And this is the reason I fear this fight may never end. The politician is at both ends of the rope and surely, he would pull to the more favourable side at any point.

Some journalists have confirmed some names - specifically politicians and chiefs -who are involved in this activity. Yet to this day, not even a single name has not been mentioned to shame the person as speculated. Even that, who takes it up from there when those names are mentioned? Unless these persons are members of the opposition parties, you are sure to say that nothing would be done about the culprits. It will only end in a courtroom show with several adjournments and never a sentence. This is how crippled we have become as a people. Our systems have failed us!

Are the lands for Galamsey not given by some chiefs? Don't these chiefs receive royalties? Are the machines used in the operations not brought from somewhere? How did they enter the country and never got confiscated? Who gave out licence to these miners to operate? The answers to these questions are not oblivious to the President and his Ministers and yet we only sit and cry out loud. The police and security service are equally watching, waiting to receive instructions. From whom?

Then there comes a 'warning' from the Chinese Ambassador concerning the government's decision on Galamsey and the Police gets a donation from a Chinese man at this crucial time. While our President calls for a Ghana without aid, I only hope he walks the talk and ignore the Chinese threats. I am not asking that we ruin our relationship with the Chinese, I'm only asking that our water bodies are protected regardless of who's happy or not. We can't be begging for everything and beg for water too...not at all. This is our country and we must define the rules of our game. Yes, the Ministry had banned the licensing of small scale mining. It's indeed a good step but it's surely not enough. I do not believe that the thousands of Galamsey operators can stop the government from pursuing this goal by the millions of other Ghanaians to end this death trap. If the NPP really wants to retain power in 2020, it must be ready to hear things outside party promises. At the end of the four years, what difference do you make if only it's about fulfilling pieces in your Manifesto? - every government does that! Yes, the free SHS, one-district-one-factory, one-village-one-dam may come to pass after the four years, but those are only things you (NPP government) promised us. Those are things you believe you can do. What about the things the people ask for? At the end of the day, you would not be assessed only by the things you did but the ones you failed to do also.

I do not know how long this fight against Galamsey will end. However, I'm only hopeful that the life of the ordinary Ghanaian would be of great priority to the politician and not merely his or her vote. Galamsey is a matter of lives against votes and not otherwise. If we do not seek to end this canker, we all would become victims - the police, the journalists, the chiefs, the clergy and the politician alike. The fight against Galamsey is not for the politician alone. It's one that requires all hands on deck. Our water bodies have been ruined but half a loaf is better than none. There should be strict measures in place to ensure that all persons that try to hinder the process are dealt with without considering party colour. The Rule of Law must be enforced! Not only should the focus be on the indigenous people who are involved in this Galamsey but also on all the supposed 'powerful' people behind the act.
Let's kill Galamsey before it kills us.

If better is possible, then surely, good is not enough.
~Samuel Jonathan 

#SayNoToGalamsey
#GhanaMustLive
#SaveOurWaterbodies

Oheneba Kwadwo Aduse Poku Nimako Jnr
kwadusepoku@yahoo.com 
0545029466