Economic policy analyst Senyo Hosi has criticised President John Mahama for refusing to declare a state of emergency to combat illegal small-scale mining, popularly known as galamsey. Speaking on the JoyNews current affairs programme Newsfile, Mr. Hosi said the president’s reluctance to take such decisive action showed a lack of political will in the face of worsening environmental destruction.
Illegal small-scale mining has left devastating scars on Ghana’s environment, polluting major rivers with mercury and silt, forcing water treatment plants to shut down, and stripping forest reserves of trees and wildlife. Experts warn that if the destruction continues unchecked, the country could face a future without reliable sources of clean water.
Recently, the Ghana Water Company, for example, has been issuing warnings that the galamsey menace has been increasing the turbidity of the raw water the company needs to treat for supply to some communities across the nation. The Managing director, Adam Mutawakilu, speaking at the Kwanyako Headworks in the Central Region, warned that if the situation continues, some treatment plants may need to be shut down.
“Last week the turbidity was as high as 32,000 Nephelometric Turbidity Units (NTU), and today it is about 11,000, yet the plant was designed to operate at just 2,500 NTU,” he said. “That means even today we are working at nearly five times the acceptable design level”
Campaigners have long called for the declaration of a state of emergency to enhance the government’s ability to curtail the destruction and devastation of illegal mining in the short to medium-term.
But addressing the media in Accra last week, the President declared that a state of emergency would do little to address the situation, insisting on a phased approach within existing legislative and regulatory frameworks, a position Mr. Hosi vehemently rejects.
“The value of that state of emergency was not to run a whole country [under a] state of emergency. There are particular places we have to protect, our forest reserves and our water bodies,” Mr. Hosi argued. “If you declare that state of emergency, you’re supposed to draft your own rules and give yourself far-reaching power to take strong action, ruthless action, to get this done.”
Mr. Hosi accused Mahama of allowing politics and vested interests to hold him back from pursuing tougher measures against galamsey operators.
“That ruthlessness that’s required, devoid of politics or social standing, has been difficult for this government. The old party people are involved. The former guards, police guards, have handed over to the new guards and the trade is continuing,” he said.
He lamented that the situation has worsened since the Mahama government came to office, pointing to rising turbidity levels in rivers and the return of miners to sites that had supposedly been cleared.
“I’m heartbroken. We can’t continue this way, Mr. President,” Mr. Hosi said. “our policy speak from our politicians has been so much on the side of inputs. [But] What you should measure your policy actions [against] is the output.”
