An open letter to Ghana's Vice-President Dr. Mahhamudu Bawumia

By: Kofi Thompson

Dear Mr Vice President,

I shall go straigjt to the point: You have spoken recently about your administration's determination to deal with the existential problems caused by illegal good miners polluting soils, streams, rivers and other water bodies, across vast swathes of the Ghanaian countryside.

Sir, clearly, in this matter, a president in a hurry, most certainly does not have to waste precious time trying to reinvent the wheel - in order to deal effectively with a problem that can have apocalyptic consequences if not dealt with quickly and resolutely by the system.

In a world that abounds with excellent ideas that could be replicated here in our homeland Ghana - to help transform a country that without a shadow of doubt has the potential to become one of the world's wealthiest nations - we must look elsewhere for the solution of what thus far has been an intractable societal problem.

That precisely is the approach your government ought to adopt in dealing with the problem of the egregious environmental degradation now threatening our nation's sources of drinking water supply - all of which are threatened by the horrendous environmental degradation being caused by irresponsible and lawless elements in the gold mining sector.

Sir, as it happens, the Arizona University's College of Engineering (AUCE) has actually invented toxin-free mining (and associated energy harvesting) methods that will help us resolve this problem swiftly. Today. Not tomorrow.

All your administration has to do is to invite the CEO of MetOxs, the vehicle set up by the AUCE to commercialise those inventions, Dr. Abraham Jalbout, to Ghana, to meet with officials of your administration.

I do know for a fact that Dr. Jalbout is keen to help Ghana rid itself of this curse and abomination.

For the sake of both present and future generations of our people, please get your dynamic minister for lands and natural resources, Hon John Peter Amewu, to invite Dr. Jalbout to Ghana as soon as practicable, to hold discussions on introducing toxin-free mining methods to Ghana, with your regime.

The successful introduction of toxin-free mining methods (and the associated energy harvesting methods that will provide free electricity), to Ghana's mining-sector at this critical juncture in our history, will be a legacy Ghanaians will always remember your adminstration for, till the very end of time.

So go for it, Sir. For all our sake.

Yours in the service of Mother Ghana,

Kofi.