'Galamsey is a curse, we need to rise up and fight it' - Rocky Dawuni

Renowned reggae icon and UN Ambassador Rocky Dawuni has issued a passionate plea to Ghanaians to take decisive action against the illegal mining activities, known as galamsey, that are destroying the country's natural resources.

In an interview with Hitz FM on September 12, 2024, Dawuni expressed deep concern over the destruction of water bodies and other vital resources due to galamsey.

“Imagine the value of water, and we are destroying all our water bodies because of an immediate acquisition of wealth. It is such a curse and we need to rise up as a people and make sure that we focus on this galamsey. It's crazy because as an ambassador for the environment, for the United Nations, for Africa, you can imagine I go to all these conferences, and people just walk up to me from different countries and ask, ‘What is going on?’ And I tell them, ‘I don't know. I have no words to explain,” he said.

He highlighted the severe environmental and health impacts, urging citizens to recognize the long-term consequences of these activities.

“So to all my people, let's stand up and stop this because it's robbing our future. It's destroying our livelihood. It's putting cyanide, mercury, all these heavy metals into our food chain, and then all of that is going into our waterways.

“So imagine that when you open your tap and you drink some of this stuff that is in the rivers, we are connected to the rivers ourselves. We are part of this whole network of life. So imagine that the water that you're drinking and cooking, too, has these heavy metals in it,” he said.

Rocky Dawuni’s calls join that of other well-known personalities who have called for urgent action to be taken concerning galamsey.

Meanwhile, the Trades Union Congress (TUC) has threatened to launch demonstrations and a nationwide strike if the government does not take decisive action against illegal mining (galamsey) by the end of September.

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