Government silence on Anas galamsey exposé worrying – Forest Watch

A coalition of 32 non-governmental organisations under the umbrella of Forest Watch Ghana has fingered the government on its seeming silence on Anas’s investigative piece on galamsey.

The piece implicated some government officials including the Secretary to the Inter-ministerial Committee on Illegal Mining, Charles Bissue.

On premiering the exposé, Anas filed a formal complaint at the Office of the Special Prosecutor alleging corruption, an incident which led to the resignation of Mr. Bissue from the Committee, while the government demanded for the raw footage for further investigations.

But not much has since been heard about the case. The coalition is thus worried that the posture of the government may end up trivializing the matter.

“The silence is sending the impression that the Executive is unperturbed that top government officials including presidential staffers are behind the destruction of water ecosystems, farms and livelihoods. This posture trivializes these criminal acts and is endangering the lives of ordinary people and eventually the entire nation,” the Forest Watch Ghana said in a statement Monday.

They are also calling on the government to expedite action on the matter.

“Civil society calls on the government to act with the same alacrity with which it responded to the exposé in the sports sector, since the galamsey menace is wreaking havoc on the environment and destroying the very foundation of the lives of the people,” the statement continued.

Forest Watch Ghana also bemoans the general reaction of Ghanaians on the exposé, describing it as “a deep lack of knowledge and appreciation of the values of biodiversity”.

In this regard, it is calling for “a deliberate national agenda to raise awareness on the importance of biodiversity”, emphasizing the need to “educate Ghanaians on the need to consciously protect our biological resources.

Meanwhile, the coalition has also raised concerns about the implications of borrowing from China, fearing the implications could be dire on the economy. It also raised concerns about Rosewood logging and the need to preserve wildlife.