The Media Coalition Against Galamsey is calling for a renewed fight against illegal mining activities following the deadly clash at AngloGold Ashanti’s Obuasi Mines.
The clash, which resulted in multiple fatalities, highlights the worsening situation of illegal mining, which has caused significant pollution to Ghana’s water bodies and destroyed vegetation. The Coalition is concerned that efforts to combat these activities have diminished.
Convenor of the Media Coalition Against Galamsey, Kenneth Ashigbey, emphasized the need for decisive action to prevent such incidents in mining areas.
“We’ve asked that he issues a cease and desist order so that these illegal and irresponsible miners would realize that there’s a president in charge. Not only should the government act but the citizens should not be spectators…those put in authority should work together to ensure that the plethora of solutions that have been professed. So we need this multidimensional approach to deal with this wicked problem,” he stated.
Ashigbey also expressed concern that the government has not prioritized the fight against illegal mining, which has led to waning advocacy on the issue. “Because of the seeming silence when power changed over, we’ve heard the President act swiftly towards various national issues (ORAL, MMDCEs, surrendering state properties, etc.) but we can’t say the same for the fight against galamsey even though they signed the pact against galamsey through the media coalition,” he added.
The Coalition condemned the actions of the illegal miners involved in the attack on military personnel, calling it a criminal act. “We also know that the military also has their standard procedures, no military man who is working according to the rules they have will shoot at people who have surrendered, but the military will have to defend themselves when they are being attacked,” Ashigbey said.
He supported the President’s call for a probe into the incident, urging that perpetrators be held accountable. “We support the President’s call for an investigation and we hope it will be an independent investigation to ascertain what the truth is, and the punishment that has to be exacted to culprits should be done irrespective of who is involved,” he emphasized.
Ashigbey also suggested that involving traditional leaders is key to strengthening the fight against galamsey and the frequent attacks on mining sites.
“We need to harness the power of our traditional leaders as well and so we must bring our chiefs, queen mothers, and traditional priests into the whole issue of the governance around the mining process…Our subregion has had that preponderance of people attacking legal mines and it’s something we have to deal with,” he stated.