Dr. John-Baptist Naah
Politics permeates every facet of our lives. In governance, at the workplace, and in homes, we have various degrees of Politics going on, relevant to the cross-fertilization of ideas and skills for a common purpose. But at times, Politics can also breed serious misunderstandings and challenges in society.
I hereby intend to expatiate on the worrying ‘Galamsey Politics’ or politics of galamsey in Ghana which highlights the looming environmental disaster that can befall our country within a relatively short time, if care is not taken.
The ‘traditional galamsey’ practice in Ghana is a well-known practice from pre-colonial times till date; this has survived without so much environmental devastation. In the past few years under President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, ‘traditional galamsey’ has transitioned into ‘high-tech galamsey’ (HTG) with shocking environmental destruction as well as pollution of our major rivers due to the use of earth-moving machines and dangerous chemicals to extract gold.
Ghana is not only facing dire social, economic, and environmental consequences from the ongoing HTG activities, but the country is sitting on a timebomb of ‘environmental suicide’, if immediate and far-reaching measures are not taken.
In this piece, I will limit my submission to the NDC and NPP parties, which have ruled Ghana since the Fourth Republic, and how traditional galamsey is affected by the 2 Parties so far.
Looking at the NDC:
Following Dr. Kwame Nkrumah’s nationalization of land and mineral resources in Ghana, his government enacted the Minerals Act (Act 126 of 1962), which vested the ownership of minerals in the President on behalf of the Republic and in trust for the People of Ghana.
Although subsequent governments after Nkrumah amended the Minerals Act, government control of ‘stool lands’ has not changed to date. This has eroded the powers of chiefs to make decisions on their lands in various communities. It was the PNDC under former President Jerry John Rawlings who passed the Minerals and Mining Law (PNDC Law 153) in 1986 to promote and regulate the orderly development of the mining sector.
It was also the NDC, then PNDC which passed the Small-Scale Gold Mining Law (PNDC Law 218) in 1989 to avoid resistance from local communities as well as enacting the Mercury Law (PNDC Law 217) and the Precious Minerals Marketing Corporation Law (PNDC Law 219) to regularize small-scale gold mining, regulate the use of mercury by small-scale gold miners, and provide official marketing channels for gold produced by small-scale miners.
Thus, from former Presidents Rawlings, Atta-Mills, and Mahama (the current Flagbearer), the NDC has been able to keep the practice of galamsey in check. Additionally, President Atta-Mills and Mahama did not permit mining to be done in forest reserves and on water bodies. Despite attempts being made to use galamsey to destroy our water bodies, various NDC governments did not allow it to go on unchecked. This has resulted in clearer and cleaner rivers as well as the preservation of our biodiversity-rich forest reserves after former President Mahama left office in 2016.
Looking at the NPP:
The NPP under President Kufour and Akufo-Addo came to meet a solid foundation laid with respect to the regulation and management of our mineral resources.
It is important to note that former President Kufour kept the status quo in the small-scale mining sector and our forest reserves and water bodies were spared.
However, the reign of President Akufo-Addo has exhibited alarming greed and a complete lack of commitment to fighting the traditional galamsey we all knew from time immemorial. What have rather observed under Akufo-Addo’s regime is that he has transitioned from traditional galamsey to ‘high-tech galamsey’ phenomenon.
His regime passed LI 2462 in November 2022 to allow prospecting and mining in some important forest reserves, which are sources of major rivers as well as an increase in the use of earth-moving equipment (high-tech) in small-scale mining operations. The LI should not have seen the light of day because of our history of not enforcing laws religiously.
Additionally, the former minister of Environment, Science and Technology under this current government claimed in his report that ‘Presidential Galamseyers’ known to President Akufo-Addo were thwarting the galamsey fight and virtually tangible was done by the President.
Concluding remarks:
In Ghana, there is always the tendency to politicize various issues including energy/electricity politics, water politics, exchange rate politics, and galamsey politics. The way galamsey politics is being used to pollute the natural environment and water bodies with careless abundance cannot be ignored.
Considering efforts from the 2 major political parties to fight the galamsey menace, the NDC has done far better than the NPP. This is evidenced by the passage of LI 2462 to mine in forest reserves and giving about 1,503 licenses under this regime of Akufo-Addo under 8 years as compared to only 56 licenses given under the regimes of Atta-Mills and Mahama.
The Akufo-Addo regime showed and is still showing a lack of political will to address this looming danger and only uses lip service to fight this worsening HTG menace.
The rising voices from Organized Labor, CSOs, and the Media in the country to push this government to halt this dangerous practice of high-tech galamsey activities is a call in the right direction. This citizen demand for action should be sustained until we see tangible and immediate results i.e. clean rivers and reclamation of devasted forest reserves, using the ‘polluter pays’ principle and other measures.
Going beyond galamsey politics and taking immediate and far-reaching nationalistic decisions to deal with this monstrous socio-ecological problem facing our country is key.
