 government to live up to its campaign promise to declare a state of emergency in areas affected by illegal small-scale mining, popularly known as galamsey.){kind=link}
Former Minister for Lands and Natural Resources and Member of Parliament for Damongo, Samuel Abu Jinapor, has challenged the National Democratic Congress (NDC) government to live up to its campaign promise to declare a state of emergency in areas affected by illegal small-scale mining, popularly known as galamsey.
Speaking on the matter, Jinapor reminded the government of its commitments made while in opposition, particularly its vow to heed civil society’s call for decisive action against illegal mining through the imposition of emergency measures in mining districts.
“The opposition at the time supported Civil Society’s call and went a step further to commit and promise that when voted into office… they will declare a state of emergency in mining districts of our country,” he stated.
Jinapor pressed the administration for clarity on its position, urging it to either announce a concrete timeline for the declaration or provide reasons for abandoning the plan.
“They should come out and say we will impose a state of emergency at such and such time, or we will not impose a state of emergency because of A, B, C reasons. But not to say anything and to leave it hanging, I think, is not a proper way of proceeding,” he said.
His remarks echo sentiments shared by stakeholders in Ghana’s environmental protection and media advocacy spaces. Ken Ashigbey, Convener of the Media Coalition Against Galamsey, reiterated the need for a state of emergency during a recent appearance on TV3’s KeyPoints program on March 22. According to Ashigbey, such a declaration would energize the fight against illegal mining and empower law enforcement and regulatory bodies.
“We still demand the imposition of a state of emergency in the illegal mining fight. We also need to put in place a system where we can track all active excavators in Ghana,” Ashigbey said.
He called for transparency in identifying the owners of equipment used in illegal operations and suggested a system for tracing chassis numbers and financial backers of the imported machinery.
“If you take the chassis number, you will be able to trace it to who owns it,” he noted. “We should look for the sources of the funding for the excavators…we are waiting for the Minister to publish the list of those who imported into the country.”
Environmental concerns were also raised by Daryl Bossu, Executive Director of A Rocha Ghana, who warned that illegal mining is devastating Ghana’s forest reserves.
“A lot of the forests are experiencing illegal mining, eating away the forests. We have more than 44 forest reserves affected by illegal mining,” he disclosed, also during the KeyPoints program.
Bossu acknowledged the scale of the problem and the burden it places on the current administration, noting, “And I sympathise with them because it gives them a lot of work to do.”