Galamsey Fight: Declare media war - President of the Press Foundation

A media-related non-profit organization, The Press Foundation, has charged journalists in Ghana to embark on what it calls, “Media War” on the increasingly worrying illegal mining situation across the country.

According to the organization, the media must also make the fight against this deadly plight that continues to threaten the fabric of the nation’s environment a core of their content in their reportage.

The founder and president of TPF, Listowell Yesu Bukarson who made the call argued that the media is the most powerful medium through which the seemingly insolvent fight against the canker of galamsey can be considerably minimized, if not completely won.

“As the so-called fourth of the realm, we must appreciate that, we are that powerful in helping change the narrative of how successive governments have over the years tried to arrest this deadly and unfortunate galamsey business which continues to pollute our waters and erode the potential of our lands,” Mr. Bukarson said.

According to him, “It gets worse when as a nation we leave this fight in the hands of politicians, traditional rulers, and landowners. Up till this point, it must be clear to us that politicians, traditional leaders, and landowners only pay lip service to the galamsey fight. It is obvious that they have all lost the fight because, ostensibly some of them seem to profit from same.”

“If as a nation we are desirous of addressing this menace. It would, in my estimation, come to the will and the commitment of independent and disinterested media to lead this fight to success. The pollution and destruction of our water and environment affect us all. We must therefore commit to this campaign by creating content on our respective media platforms as our quota to fighting this situation."

Mr. Bukarson who is the former Ashanti Regional Chairman of the Ghana Journalist Association (GJA), charged media associations and other media houses to, in a worse case, declare media war on the galamsey fight.

“The Ghana Journalists Association, the Ghana Independent Broadcasting Association, The Media Foundation for West Africa, and a host of others, including many media houses, over the years have campaigned against illegal mining, yet it thrives. It is time, I think, that we collectively declared media war on this fight”.

“Let’s think for a moment that the nation wakes up one day and all we hear on the radio, watch on television as well as read in the print and all other online platforms is a well-coordinated campaign against galamsey,” Mr. Bukarson said.

He pointed out that it must not be left too late in the day for the media to appreciate its crucial role in helping shape the nation.

“We have heard and seen over the years that the media is more powerful than the sword and the gun. Let’s prove this by standing up to be counted in this fight against galamsey,” he said.