Sir Sam Jonah, the Executive Chairman of Jonah Capital, has said the fight against illegal mining, popularly known as galamsey, will fail without traditional leaders being involved.
According to Sam Jonah, Ghana has all the laws to fight galamsey, but the only missing element was traditional leaders and the community.
Speaking during a fireside chat organised by the School of Communications Studies at the University of Wisconsin, Sir Sam Jonah stated, “The laws are there; don’t mine in forest reserves, and when you do, you have to clean it up. So, it is not that we need more laws; it is the case that we need more enforcement.
“You can only enforce when there is an important element that is missing in all of it, which is the involvement of traditional leaders and the community,” he said.
In related news, Oliver Barker-Vormawor, a private legal practitioner and social activist, has warned President John Dramani Mahama that the illegal mining, popularly known as galamsey, will haunt him even if the cedi goes to GHC6 to a dollar.
According to Vormawor, no economic gains can erase the galamsey stain on Mahama’s legacy.
He argued that, even if the economy records significant growth, neglecting the fight against illegal mining would undermine the administration’s credibility.
Speaking in an interview on Channel One TV’s The Point of View on Wednesday, September 24, Barker-Vormawor warned, “Anybody who feels that if the cedi were to go to GHC6 to a dollar, the galamsey question is not going to leave the President, it’s going to haunt him.”
Oliver Barker-Vormawor further highlighted that the John Mahama government’s credibility has been dented by failed galamsey promises.
He noted that the government has already fallen short of its own commitments by failing to repeal Legislative Instrument (L.I.) 2462 within its first 120 days.
The social activist added, “The truth is we’re facing an environmental crisis of proportions that none of us have ever imagined. The responses to it must consistently reassure public trust in the way you want to move.
The first thing the government promised us in its social contract was that within 120 days, it would repeal L. I 2462, and it comes in and does the opposite. Already you are sending signals”.
“When you send signals on some of the low-hanging fruit like that, it doesn’t create the impression that you are serious about it. Some of the back and forth of some of the people sent to the field involved in extorting money is a credibility denter. The deportation of the Chinese nationals involved in galamsey is a credibility denter,” Barker-Vormawor stressed.
Meanwhile, Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah, the Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, has announced that the John Mahama-led government will declare all water bodies and forest reserves security zones.
The Lands minister warned that anyone caught engaging in illegal mining within these protected areas will do so at their own risk.
Speaking on the GTV Breakfast Show, Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah detailed, “We are moving another step further, and that step says we are going to declare all the water bodies and our forests security zones. And you stay there and engage in illegal mining activity at your own risk. That is the step,”
“When the President said that we are going to use all the steps, that’s what he meant. And so I’m very confident. How can people leave red zones for you when you come and clear within nine months? And those people who have caused the damage have the audacity to be talking?” he said.
He added, “I think that the Attorney General is on top of this matter, and anybody engaged in illegal mining, we don’t care who you are or how politically connected, we will arrest and prosecute you”.
Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah further assured that the government will ensure the strict and impartial prosecution of illegal mining offenders.
He stressed, “We don’t care who you are or how politically connected you may be. Anyone arrested will be prosecuted. This time, there are no calls from anybody, no interference”.
“We are not only enforcing the law, we are reforming it. Our aim is to stop the bleeding, restore our rivers, and ensure that mining is done responsibly,” he said.