A mining town called wasteland

Read Comments Comments (5)

• mensah abrampa 12 years ago

  In the run up to the controversial 2012 elections Nana Akuffo Addo became the voice of the voiceless when he broke standard protocol to ask the question : "Na Sika No Wo He ? meaning "Where is the Money?" in apparent referenc ...
  read full comment

  In the run up to the controversial 2012 elections Nana Akuffo Addo became the voice of the voiceless when he broke standard protocol to ask the question : "Na Sika No Wo He ? meaning "Where is the Money?" in apparent reference to the unprecedented amount of external loans procured and allegedly spent on "ghost projects" in undisclosed locations around the country.This is the greatest but unanswered question not just for our time but will remain the most relevant for all time and throughout eternity until we begin to see the answer in tangible terms.It's about stewardship and accountability.
  We add our voices to the million dollar question by asking where is our common defense, where is the justice, where is the general welfare for our people? In the absence of the answers to these questions there will be no domestic tranquility and where this would not be guaranteed there will be no development and growth.
  It was such a heavy lift in 1983 when I was required to answer prodding questions from some Jewish friends then resident in Ghana who wanted to know if it is true Ghana has large deposits of gold and diamond.When I answered yes they asked : "then why are you so poor?" Those were the harrowing of hell days of Rawlings chain, agbeli kakro, dwii baa dwii baa dont touch me soap,endless public transportation queues, etc, etc.In the 21st century our capital city Accra remains a sprawling slum where people still carry pans of faeces on their heads, potable water is yet to be demystified and electrical power is still a millenium away!
  The amount of gold, diamond and lately the oil exported to foreign destinations can build 1,000 New York Cities so the million dollar question is what happened to our share of the deal because the mining towns of Obuase,Prestea, Tarkwa/Abosso, Akwatia all look like 9th century cottages.
  What kind of deals did our leaders from Nkrumah to date make with the foreign investors that we were not privy to? Why has every transaction made in the name and in behalf of the people of Ghana been kept secret from the people by our "trusted" (oops) elected and unelected officials? What's going on? Where is the money? We can't get "no satisfaction", no stewardship nor accountability from our leaders. The freedom of information bill has remained in transit for over 10 years in the Ghana parliament unable to become a law of the land. Why oh why? The answer? Money is all our politicians want so when they get into office they get straight to the point because in the politicians' tenure of office act time is of the essence. They have 8 years or less. People wake up! If we dont get rid of the corrupt politicians they will get rid of us. They will send us all to our early graves.

  reply
• Show 12 years ago

  In Ghana there are a lot of citizens like Mensah Abrampa, who given the chance would lecture beautifully on all aspects of our being. Give them the chance to correct same anomalies and pronto they fall in with the bandwagon.
  ...
  read full comment

  In Ghana there are a lot of citizens like Mensah Abrampa, who given the chance would lecture beautifully on all aspects of our being. Give them the chance to correct same anomalies and pronto they fall in with the bandwagon.
  
  To me that is the problem. There are many many such examples and we know them.

  reply
• Kojo T 12 years ago

  He politicises the problem.ook before Kutu and rawlings Ghana got annually GHC2.00m , no matter the world price of gold. Busia was in power and did NOTHING . Nkrumah tried and they diverted the Prah river and flooded the Takw ...
  read full comment

  He politicises the problem.ook before Kutu and rawlings Ghana got annually GHC2.00m , no matter the world price of gold. Busia was in power and did NOTHING . Nkrumah tried and they diverted the Prah river and flooded the Takwa mines, The first Ghana mining engineers graduate in 1972 so whn Kutu came he surrounded the mines and De Beers the CEO was in Ghana pronto to sigh a better deal rawlings did his best but was sold out under K4 . Let us not distort things. Nkrumah , Kutu and rawlings are accussed of being socialists for trying to get better deals for the country

  reply
• Jade 12 years ago

  Sad

  Sad

  reply
• Kobena 12 years ago

  Yes, Samuel,
  It is a very sad situation that you have written about. I first wrote about the plight of those mining commuinties in 2001, after a geological field trip that took me to Tarkwa, Bogosu, Obuasi and Konongo, as we ...
  read full comment

  Yes, Samuel,
  It is a very sad situation that you have written about. I first wrote about the plight of those mining commuinties in 2001, after a geological field trip that took me to Tarkwa, Bogosu, Obuasi and Konongo, as well as many small villages in between. I saw the sheer devastation and wrote that if something serious was not done about unregulated illegal mining, there would be no land for foodcrop cultivation and no safe water for drinking in about twenty years.
  
  Unfortunately, the late Prof Atta Mills promised to "legalise galamsey" and he did just that. The result is that the Chinese and other foreigners flooded our country and with the connivance of indiginous and well placed Ghanaians who should have known better, have turned those mining communities into the wasteland that you saw.
  
  The tragedy of it all is that Uncle Atta himself grew up at Tarkwa!
  
  You need to travel a few miles out of Obuasi, Tarkwa, Bogosu and Konongo to see the real damage. And to think that villagers who are the ultimate losers in this whole saga reward these incompetent and useless politicians of whatever colour, with their votes, is just beyond belief.
  That is why I cry for the beloved Country!

  reply