EDITORIAL: Of Poisoned Bush Meat

AS MUCH AS 30 per cent of game meat in Ghana is poisoned with deadly chemicals. Eating such meat poses serious health hazards to the human body resulting in chronic diseases and other ailments such as infertility in both men and women and, more dangerously, death. That was the message in one of the stories we published on the front page of our Thursday, August 29, issue.

That certainly is a terrifying news item, in view of the fact that many people in this country eat bush meat almost on a daily basis, enjoying such meat as "akrantie," "otwe" and "adowa" (grass cutter, antelope and dear) as delicacies.


Almost every third animal meat one eats is poisoned. But apart from destroying human life, those who kill the animals using such pesticides as Furadan, as reported in the story, also threaten the survival of the animals.


Already, more than 50 animal species that abound in the Ghana ecology only 50 years ago are running extinct.


That is as serious as the killing of humans because without the animals the ecological balance is distorted and diseases, harsh weather and depletion of forest medicines and other resources set in - all to the disadvantage of humankind. Those who wickedly kill the animals by mixing the poisons with food kill indiscriminately the mature animals and their young ones who should have been spared to survive the older ones.


Invariably, these wicked hunters set fire to the bush every dry season in pursuit of the same animals, destroying food crops, timber, villages, life and property. The perpetrators live among the people who suffer as a result of these atrocities. What makes the matter sadder is the fact that there are national laws, local assembly bye-laws and traditional regulations forbidding such wicked practices.


Nobody seems to be enforcing them. So the wicked ones can pour very toxic chemicals into streams that are sources of drinking water, poisoning them for everybody - just to catch a few fingerlings or mudfish. As a general observation, Ghana has almost all the laws, rules and regulations it requires to make its people live in peace and safety. Trouble is that most of the laws never get implemented.

The Chronicle, therefore, calls on the metropolitan, municipal and district assemblies to wake up to their responsibilities in that direction. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) should also be up and doing to save the animal kingdom, on whom mankind so much depends.


It is also suggested that the law courts should expedite adjudication of cases involving such suspects brought before them.


If lack of alternative job avenues is what is driving some people to these wicked limits, we also urge the Agricultural Extension Services (AES) personnel who are scattered all over the country to teach the rural folk the rearing of snails, grass cutters, bees and the like. That way the perpetrators could earn a more decent living.


Chop-bar keepers should investigate the sources of the meat before they buy. If not for anything at all, for the fact that they taste the soup before they sell. What should be obvious to them is that, should the poisoned meat remain on the markets, bad publicity will drive many consumers from their chop-bars.


From October through February, the killing of all bush animals will be expected to cease. This is because that is the period they breed. The law has always been in the books. And we all expect the Department of Game and Wildlife as well as all relevant bodies to strictly enforce it for once.