Deal with powers behind galamsey menace – GBA president to govt

The President of the Ghana Bar Association (GBA), Yaw Acheampong Boafo, has called on the government to intensify its fight against galamsey by targeting influential individuals behind the illegal mining activities also known as galamsey.

Speaking at the 2024/2025 annual general conference in Kumasi on Monday, September 9, Mr. Boafo stressed, “This issue poses an existential threat to our nation, so severe that His Excellency the President put his presidency on the line.”

Mr. Boafo also criticized the political debate surrounding the issue, calling it a distraction from the true issue. “Unfortunately, it has degenerated into a political football match between the major political parties as to who polluted the water the most,” he expressed.

He cited a particularly alarming occasion in Parliament when a member of the leadership declared that when in power, the opposition party polluted Ghana’s rivers more than the ruling party.

“Such an irresponsible statement by a member of Parliament is symptomatic of the malaise affecting our dear nation”, he said.

“The state must be honest and deal with the real powers behind this menace,” he urged. He stressed that combating galamsey requires more than just public uproar or sensationalism in the media. “We will play the ostrich in our future if we pretend as we are now,” he warned.