Galamsey In Ghana And Its Health Implications

KEY NOTE ADDRESS BY THE OKYENHENE OSAGYEFUO AMOATIA OFORI PANIN AT THE 15TH ANNUAL PUBLIC LECTURE OF THE GHANA MEDICAL ASSOCATION, 12TH AUGUST 2015, CAPITAL VIEW HOTEL, KOFORIDUA,

Mr. Chairman, Ladies and Gentlemen, I am greatly honored and privileged to be invited to speak on this august occasion, though on a rather sensitive and insightful topic.

Sensitive because, today in Ghana the mere mention of galamsey or illegal small scale mining provokes an avalanche of uninformed commentary and unfounded accusations. This condition has contributed in arresting and imprisoning frank discussions aimed at formulating realistic and comprehensive measures to address the situation.

Insightful however, because it provides the opportunity to examine a critical national developmental issue not only with respect to public health, but the whole debate on national development.

The discussions on illegal mining just like every issue of public interest in Ghana including your current demand for better conditions of service, has been attended by unmatched superficiality, trivial commentary, partisan considerations, false accusations, and a remarkable poverty of scientific appreciation of the issues in the mining sector. But this is the outcome of a society that has lost essence of its role in questioning the prevailing socio-economic conditions.

It is important to note that there has been a lack of in-depth appreciation of the global, social and historical context of gold or mineral extraction in this country. A correct appreciation is required in understanding the broad nature and challenges that the mineral wealth of this country provides in the sense that mineral wealth could either be a blessing or curse depending on how it is managed by political authority.

The attraction for mineral extraction in Ghana is phenomenal and will continue to be.

As far back as 1471, Don Diego De Azambuja, who led the first European expedition to this country, was impressed with the huge prospect of mineral exploration. The host community was christened, Elmina meaning the mine.

Centuries later in the interior of the country, reports on the geological surveys in the Adanse area, where my ancestors once sojourned drew the famous commentary from one of the explorers that there can be found “enough gold to develop the whole of Western Europe”. Surely Ghana deserved its former name, Gold Coast.

The mineral prospect of this country provoked greater European interest in the country. It became the harbinger of the slave trade and finally colonial domination.

Mr. Chairman, it is in this contest that we must appreciate the theme of this delivery.

THE GALAMSEY MENACE

It is estimated that 80 to 100 million people worldwide are currently engaged in artisanal or small scale mining or as we know here as galamsey.

Galamsey or artisanal mining involves rudimentary techniques of mineral extraction, highly manual processes, hazardous working conditions and low levels of environmental and health awareness. Ghana is Africa’s second largest gold producer after South Africa accounting for 40% of its total export earnings. An estimate of three hundred thousand people are involved in small scale mining which amounts to over 60% of Ghana’s total gold miners.

In a 2005 study by Carson, roughly two hundred and fifty thousand miners [60% of total the labour force] operate without an official license in Ghana. Locally, these people are referred to as galamseyers, a term said to originate from the phrase ‘gather and sell’.

In practical terms there are barely any differences either organizationally or technologically between unregistered illegal miners- referred to as galamsey – and registered small scale miners. The only exception is that registered small scale miners have security of land tenure.

Mr. Chairman, galamsey activities, by their crude and wasteful methods provide one of the stiffest challenges to public health. It involves water use methods and alluvial mining techniques that cause devastating pollution of rivers, streams and lakes. Toxic chemicals such as mercury that have long term health implications on communities for generations are released into these water bodies.

The use of these heavy metals to pollute surface and underground water has severe health implications that would not manifest immediately but in the near future.

Mercury dispensed through the activities of illegal miners in the form of mercury vapour and the pollution of surface and underground water are highly toxic to humans.

According to the Ghana Health Service, mercury, which is a heavy metal and one of the chemicals used by illegal miners in their activities, had a dire effect on the health of humans, as it could cause the breakdown of the central nervous system.

Mr. Chairman, galamsey activities expose Ghanaians through drinking and inhaling of gaseous mercury, which is absorbed into the blood. Once in the circulatory system, it can pass through the blood-brain barrier and accumulate in the brain, damaging the central nervous system.

Also the consumers of pipe-borne water may be consuming small amounts of mercury and unknown to the public, bits of it would accumulate and give negative effects in the not-too-distant future.

Aside those who drink treated water, millions of Ghanaians live along the banks of these river bodies and fetch the raw water, which is heavily contaminated with chemicals such as mercury and arsenic, for domestic use.

For most people, mercury use is the only means of extracting gold. While many are aware of the effects of these poisonous substances, the immediate economic needs that can be satisfied through its use outweigh the risk.

Carson 2005, Hilton and Potter 2003, who have conducted extensive studies on the galamsey phenomenon estimate that half of those employed in galamsey operations in Ghana, are women and children representing one of the highest in the world.

My personal visits to some of these galamsey sites make me feel that some of these data are conservative.

Women and children typically work as panners, carriers, and processers as well as cooks and other service providers mainly prostitutes around mining sites.

Mr. Chairman, thus apart from the dangers pose by mercury and arsenic poisoning the threat of HIV/AIDS is roaring its ugly head together with malaria.

Today, vast stretches of our land have become convenient breeding grounds for mosquitoes due to the stagnant water collected in abandoned gaping holes resulting from galamsey operations. In galamsey communities today, malaria fever is the number one cause of infant mortality.

Thus aside the health implications created by galamsey towns, Kyebi as an example, are faced with an unprecedented level of social acculturation. Many West African nationals have invaded our territories. Our people are exposed to social and ethnic and class distinctions not previously encountered.

According to the East Akyem Municipal Health Directorate, teenage pregnancy is at an all-time peak. The effect of this is the weakening of traditional family relations with devastating effect on education of our children. School drop-out rate has quadrupled, and BECE results have gone from bad to worse.

Mr. Chairman, my long standing opposition to all forms of mining has been informed by its devastating consequences on more sustainable forms of economic activities such as agriculture, forestry, tourism, water and fish resources and consequently the livelihoods of ecological dependent communities.

Interesting to note, the Ghana Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (GPRSP) indicated that forestry provided a greater contribution to national income than mining. Not only that, it assured a more sustainable means of subsistence to a far greater size of the population due to its effect on the sustenance and preservation of water bodies.

Mr. Chairman, I was shocked to hear that revenue from non-traditional export commodities like pineapple, smoked fish and bush meat contributes more to Gross Domestic Product [GDP] than mining. This is according to official statistics from the Ghana Export Promotion Council.

Fresh water resources hold great economic potential for agriculture, tourism, irrigation, transport and industry. However there is a decline in fish stock due to mercury and arsenic spillage into streams and rivers with devastating consequences on aquatic biodiversity.

The effect on agriculture is remarkable. There has been drastic reduction of farmers in galamsey communities as a result of land degradation and the destruction of farm lands. This has negatively impacted on food production and a sharp fall in general agricultural production.

There is no need mentioning the effect of galamsey on the forest cover. According to official reports, 80% of the forests cover in galamsey areas have been eroded due to clearing of vegetation and top soil. The threat to biodiversity and medicinal plant is critical.

Mr. Chairman, far more important to me, I am unable to dry my tears every day I hear of horrific stories of our young men, women and children losing their lives and limbs in their desperate adventures for economic survival in mining pits.

In November 2009, at Dompoase in the Western Region an estimated thirty miners lost their lives as a result of a collapse of abandoned mining pit. More interesting and worrying, fourteen of the eighteen bodies that were retrieved were women.

Less than a year later a more horrific catastrophe was to hit the people of Dunkwa-On-Offin, in the Central Region. Over a hundred people perished when a galamsey pit caved in near the Offin River.

In Bole Bamboi, in the Northern Region, the home town of President John Mahama, last year, not less twenty people lost their lives in similar circumstances weeks after he had described Kyebi, the capital of the Akyem Abuakwa State as the “ headquarters of galamsey” in Ghana.

The small scale mining or galamsey, though long established had been driven underground by the legal and administrative regime of mineral rights and by the gap between the official prices paid for gold and those of the parallel market.

Thus a general review of the short comings of government administrative and legislative measures is important. This will be followed by a review of the later legal police measures attempting at reforming the minerals and mining sector.

LEGAL AND POLICY FRAMEWORK

Mining today has become the most expedient of Governments easing itself of the recurring pressure of addressing balance of payment deficits, ensure rapid flow of foreign direct investment and more importantly to generate revenue to meet external debt payment obligations.

This situation has decisively influenced the tailoring of public policy and statutory framework on mining and natural resource management.

This has been done at the expense of the need to create an integrated economic model based on the exploitation of natural resources on a sustainable basis.

The expected result has been that mineral extraction has posed a threat to water resource security and forest conservation.

Mr. Chairman, it seems clearly that central government just like the early European adventurers who labeled Elmina and named this country Gold Coast is only interested in extracting minerals at the expense of communities and sustainable management of the ecology and public health. .

Beginning with the Mineral Resources Act of 1952, all legislative and policy measures with regard to natural resources have been tailored to isolate and undermine traditional authority in the management of these resources.

The Constitution of Ghana vests all mineral and natural resources in the President of the Republic. Article 257 (6) of the Constitution and Section 1 of the Minerals and Mining Act, 2006, provides as follows: every mineral in its natural state in, under, or upon any land in Ghana, streams, rivers, water courses throughout Ghana, exclusive economic zone and any area covered by the sea or continental shelf is the property of the Republic of Ghana and shall be vested in the President, on behalf of and in trust for the People of Ghana.

Mr. Chairman, pursuant to the provisions of this article, the Water Resources Commission Act (Act 522, 1996) was also passed. Section 12 of the Water Resources Commission Act also vests all water resources in the President.

These laws, regrettably, are based on wholesale adoption of western notions of the Public Trust Doctrine in flagrant disregard of the long established customary rights and practices of our people in relation to the management and control of natural resources.

Under customary law, water in all its forms is regarded as public or communal property not subject to private control. Thus ownership of water was vested in stools and communities. Before the advent of the modern state, the imposition of fines, religious and customary beliefs served as potent sources of ensuring compliance with customary rules on water usage. Traditional leaders, priests and priestesses, as part of customary beliefs made pronouncements which were scrupulously adhered to, and disobedience of such edits had grave consequences for the offender.

In some parts of this country, it is forbidden to farm along river banks, considered to be resting places of river deities and their children. It was also forbidden to draw from the river on certain days. The protection of the environment was the responsibility of the entire community in traditional societies. Our people hold the duty to the ancestors and those yet unborn to maintain its integrity. Members in traditional society were enjoined to refrain from acts that will endanger the environment.

I grieve over the present situation, where the potency of customary norms as tools for the preservation of the natural environment has completely diminished.

With the enactment of the Water Resources Commission Act, customary rights over water by stools and communities have been ousted. The water resources commission now grants water rights without reference to stools and communities. Also there is only one representative for chiefs on the WRC.

Christian beliefs and lack of traditional content in school curriculum in our educational sector have whittled down the influence and recognition of traditional authority in water resources management.

FAILURE OF REFORM

In 1989 laws were passed with the aim of bringing of artisanal gold mining, popularly known as galamsey into the official economy. The Small Scale Gold Mining Law, PNDCL 218, the Mercury Law PNDCL 217, and the Precious Mineral Marketing Cooperation Law, PNDCL 219 provided for small scale mining that involved the use of rudimentary equipment such as hammers, pick axes, shovels, buckets, metallic boxes and sluice boxes for mining.

The predominant methods of gold recovery in Ghana are from alluvial and hard rock mining sites which depend on mercury use. The law thus seeks to ensure safe mining practices with regards to the use of mercury. It however does not include any guidelines in terms of handling and disposing of the chemical, making compliance and monitoring impossible.

The Mercury Law (PNDCL 217) legalized the purchase from authorized sellers of mercury for use in gold recovery. On the face of it, these laws on small scale mining and galamsey were not bad in themselves, but like many other laws, the lack of institutional enforcement mechanisms has rendered them impotent.

The galamsey is mushrooming. No one seems to take stock of its ecological devastation; we behave as if we are the last people to live in this world. We have lost our traditional values and communal spirit of common good.

The policy framework that welcomes artisanal or small scale mining has lost its purpose. Legal Reforms, stated above, have only served the interest of the elite local economic agents. They are capable of affording the land, machinery, manpower and the cooperation of state officials and corrupt security agencies.

The shovels pick axes, pans, buckets and hammers have now been replaced by high powered excavators.

The vital consequence is that the youth, women and children are the exploited victims of the galamsey industry.

WHERE LAYS THE BLAME?

Mr. Chairman, the problem of this country is economic. The solution is political. Thus it is important to assess the effectiveness of the politico-legal solutions devised by politicians in Accra for the resolution of the galamsey menace in rural Ghana.

The laws on galamsey were designed in Accra without the involvement of traditional authority and institutions. The implementation failures coupled with the rising demand for gold as a result of the declining faith in the US Dollar amidst the global economic downturn are the critical factors for the rise in galamsey activities in recent years. The galamsey phenomenon is driven by global economic force.

This has led to sporadic mushrooming of all forms of mining operations throughout the country. It is a force of a global character with diverse and decisive interests, locals, foreigners, Chinese, security forces, middle men, money lenders, hirers of machinery and of course our politicians, all rushing to have a share in the boom in a manner reminiscent of the 19th century gold rush era of the Americas.

Such a situation, without well-established control and management of natural resources exposes any country to enormous adversity.

I will like to reiterate my principled opposition to all forms of mining, whether small or large scale mining.

Not understating the hazards of galamsey, let me however state emphatically that, corporate multinational large scale mining pollutes the environment. It is of a far more severe consequence than small scale mining to the public. We hear of large scale cyanide spills and the huge attempts at cover up and massive investment in public misinformation by corporate mining establishments.

Large scale corporate establishments contribute almost nothing to the national economy.

If 15% of the capital flight from gold export is retained in this country, we would have no problem with handling the financial burden on the NHIS, eradicating malaria and guinea worm, and of course meeting the demands of our dear doctors and their fellow health workers and professionals.

Mr. Chairman, we need independent and sovereign institutions to win the war against the galamsey menace

In this vain, it is imperative to question the institution of Parliament and its supervisory functions.

Some of the actions of Parliament have been compromising to the interest of the corporate mining firms.

For example, trips to and tours by parliamentary delegations to mining areas to assess the state of environmental, social responsibility and conformity to acceptable practices are sponsored by these mining firms. This includes several privileges for MPs from mining areas.

This has led to several compromising decisions such as the lowering of corporate taxes on mining and other deregulatory measures in the sector.

Some of these members of parliament who accuse chiefs of galamsey, purporting to be concerned with the environment should first seek to correct the institutional weakness, legitimacy, transparency and associated governance crisis in parliament.

There is a serious public perception that some Chiefs are deeply involved in galamsey. But Chiefs are not responsible for the institutional failures. Chiefs do not author policies on mining neither do we control the Police nor the Army.

As President of the Eastern Regional House of Chiefs, I have time without number challenged Government and the security forces to arrest any Chief who is involved in galamsey operations. Until that is done I wish to say enough of the ill- mannered accusations.

Our experience has proven that traditional leadership needs to be involved in developmental policy formulation and implementation. Chieftaincy is deeply woven in the Ghanaian social fabric. The chiefs understand the needs and challenges of their communities.

Most often developmental policy formulation is centralized. A few bureaucrats in Accra divorced from the social and cultural reality of communities design development programmes that are unable to address the needs of our people.

Mr. Chairman, I wish to reiterate my long held view that there can be no meaningful development in this country until we decentralize public institutions. For example it is senseless to create conditions where a junior Doctor working in Bolgatanga has to travel all the way to the Controller and Accountant General’s office in Accra in order to get paid his monthly arrears after a whole year of working to save our people. I cannot fathom why in this modern age, every government worker in Ghana has to be paid by one Controller and Accountant General sitting in Accra

I wish to state emphatically that the blame put on chiefs and traditional authority as the cause of galamsey is baseless. Although chiefs have allodial rights over land, the mineral resources act and the constitution places all mineral rights in the President. Thus the President of Ghana is responsible for safeguarding the mineral resources of the state.

Chiefs will not be able to shoulder the burden of protection of mineral and natural resource. The reason is simple.

Government needs to recognize that the galamsey menace needs to be addressed comprehensively. Strait-jacket law enforcement measures cannot be the solution and have proven to be ineffective.

THE WAY FORWARD

There is the need for broad policy reforms to address rural mass poverty and unemployment and institute measures aimed at streamlining small scale mining operations through regulatory reforms that allows for effective participation of the youth in small scale mining whiles at the same time ensuring environmental sustainability.

The fight against galamsey and the protection of the public is a herculean task. What we are facing is a phenomenon related to diverse and complicated economic, historical, social and cultural factors. Government must find it necessary to involve communities and traditional authority through the following measures:

1. A legal and policy regime that will recognize the right of the youth to small scale mining and institute effective regulatory measures;

2. Such a regime will involve state agencies that will enforce environment and health standards;

3. The provision of training for the youth in small scale mining technology and other related small scale industries related to mining, including and management tools through effective linkage with technical training institutions;

4. A comprehensive strategy for an integrated small scale mining industry that will create the basis for sustainable livelihoods.

Mr. Chairman, I wish to call on government to amend the water resources act to ensure the participation of traditional authority and institutions in natural water resource management as an urgent measure to guarantee the health of our people and the protection of Ghana’s water resources.

Mr. Chairman, to be in leadership and advocacy in this country, whether environment, social justice or labour puts one on firing lines of attacks and insults. I have that experience as you know in my principled devotion in the protection of the environment. But this must be seen as a challenge. You need to have an endurance and tolerance in such difficult times

It is in this spirit that I beg to use this occasion to call on the leadership of the Ghana Medical Association and all Doctors gathered here not to be carried by the provocative comments by government communicator’s in defense of your economic rights. As leaders we must seek the truth and always aim at the common good. We cannot allow comments by people who are prompted by the urgings of their own interest to weigh us down. The celebrated historian, Uthman Dan Fojo once said, conscience is an open wound, and only the truth shall heal it. I therefore implore you to exercise restraint and accommodation and ensure a peaceful resolution of your differences with government and put an end to your industrial action in the interest of the ordinary Ghanaian.

Mr. Chairman, Ladies and Gentlemen I wish to take this opportunity to congratulate you on your efforts and sacrifices for the progress of this country.

Thank you for your attention.