Government urged to go 'the Asantehene way' to curb galamsey

In the face of water turbidity levels of 14,000 NTUs, when the optimum figure should be around 2,000 NTUs as stipulated by the Ghana Water Company, Ghana is practically under siege from those who have come to be known as 'galamseyers'.

Day after day, throughout forest reserves, rivers, and water bodies running the length and breadth of the country, they pillage the land in their environmental genocide through illegal small-scale mining, earning the despicable name of 'galamsey'.

Almost all sections of the Ghanaian populace have raised their voices against this ecocide, with organized labor originally setting Thursday, October 10 as the date to commence a nationwide strike. The Catholic Archdiocese of Accra has also scheduled a Prayer Walk on the same day in protest against the menace.

The demands that organized labor deems necessary to stop the effects of environmental decimation from the activities of 'galamseyers' are for the government to declare a state of emergency, ban mining in water bodies and the buffers of rivers, and repeal the Legislative Instrument LI 2642 that allows mining in forest reserves.

After a meeting with labor leaders, the government pleaded for more time to meet the demands of the TUC, the Teacher Unions, the Nurses' organizations, the Ghana Medical Association, UTAG, the Government Hospital Pharmacists association, and others.

Following the announcement of measures that seem to respond to some of the demands of the worker unions, organized labor has announced the suspension of the nationwide strike. The worker unions stated that the government will hear from them if it fails to implement the outlined measures.

Many have described suggestions that the threatened strike and other measures aimed at bringing pressure to bear on the government just a few months before the December 7 elections as politically motivated.

Keen observers have noted that members of the ruling government have been implicated in the menace of 'galamsey' and have called for the government to "go the Asantehene way".

Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, the monarch of the Ashanti kingdom, recently destooled three of his divisional chiefs who were found to have been engaging in 'galamsey'.

The consensus is that the fight against the canker of 'galamsey' will amount to nothing if the government fails to clean its own stables and crack the whip on its own.