President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has put his presidency on the line with a commitment to end the illegal small scale mining, popularly called galamsey in Ghana.
Rallying Ghana’s traditional leaders together, the President said if there was one right thing to be done, that thing is for all to fight galamsey, reclaim the lands and leave for posterity a “green country” and a “clean space.”
He was addressing a forum against illegal mining organised chiefly to get Ghana’s chiefs involved in the fight against illegal mining.
“Ghana’s future is in a limbo with a huge chunk of its environment under-siege from boisterous young men and women who are digging every inch of space in mineral rich areas of Ghana in search of gold, diamond, etc.
They have polluted many rivers, cut down many trees, destroyed many farms all in search of gold.
These miners are mostly funded by influential kingpins. Their activities are threatening the very survival of the country, leaving the government with no choice but to declare war on galamsey.
In furtherance of this war, some miners have been arrested; excavators have been seized all in a move to end the canker.
On a day that had powerful chiefs all converging for the anti-galamsey forum, the president couldn’t have made his intent for the galamsey fight any clearer than vowing to stop it even if galamsey voters vow to turn against his government.
While he understands that the difficult economic situations in the country sometimes drive people to all length just to survive, he said the country cannot sit aloof when its heritage is being plundered.
“We all know that we have been in difficult times and times like these there is need to keep body and soul together. Every man has a duty to provide for the family and sometimes use every means possible.
“But there are things we can’t just allow to happen and one of them is the abuse of our heritage,” he reminded.
He said the lands, the rivers and the entire Ghanaian space are the country’s heritage and the country has a duty to protect it for posterity.
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