‘Even if you seize our machines, we’ll use our hands’ – Galamsey workers to Akufo-Addo

Although there appears to be a committed effort toward addressing the illegal mining menace, some persons have vowed not to desist from the act.

Over the weekend, some unnamed persons could be seen in a viral video mining and extracting precious minerals in the wee hours of the night.

They dared President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to do his ‘worse’, adding that nothing can stop them from engaging in galamsey.

“Akufo-Addo, I hope you can see us, work is ongoing. We are working at night. You don’t know everywhere in this country. The work is still going on regardless of your effort.

“As for Galamsey, we cannot stop. We cannot stop this work. This is the school we attended so we cannot stop,” he said in the local parlance.

The man heard to be filming the scene mocked the task force said to be investigating the locations of these sites.

“You can’t do anything. Even if our machine is seized, we will use our hands in the washing. You can make ¢500 in one day. Which of your workers do you pay ¢500 a day?” he quizzed.

It is, however, unclear the location of the activity.

Below is the tweet

We really have a LONNNNNNG way to go as a country. Funny commentary but sad. pic.twitter.com/JWuajGWlhk

— RAPHAEL O’MOVIA (@Rafurl) October 16, 2022

The government’s effort toward addressing galamsey has come under heavy scrutiny with many questioning the will to rid the country of the menace.

Last week, the Akufo-Addo administration came under fire from Asantehene Otumfuo Osei Tutu II.

The Asantehene stressed that the fight would remain a sham unless the appropriate individuals, particularly financiers responsible for galamsey are identified and arrested.

“How come the one who bought excavators is left off the hook? The military as usual photographs a poor laborer whose body is always covered in dirt; a man who receives paltry 200, 300 cedis from a financier.

“Then they say they have arrested galamsey operators. You will find nothing on that man when he is searched. What then happens to the financier? How come he is not arrested?

“Are they saying they don’t know those behind galamsey in Ghana? The gold ends up being sold abroad. So who is behind the sale of gold abroad? Is it not the financier? How come he is not arrested?” he quizzed.

What necessitated the galamsey fight

Over the years, there has been growing public concern over botched efforts to reclaim degraded lands.

Polluted water bodies like River Pra are still looking brownish with residues of cyanide.

Some areas of the country initially covered by thick vegetation have become bare.

The NPP government launched Operation Vanguard in 2017 to reclaim degraded lands caused by illegal mining.

President Nana Akufo-Addo made the fight against illegal mining one of the key objectives of his government.

“I have said it in the Cabinet, and perhaps this is the first time I am making this public, that I am prepared to put my Presidency on the line on this matter,” he said in 2017.

The government set up an Inter-Ministerial Committee on Illegal Mining (IMCIM).

A nationwide ban on small-scale mining and illegal mining, popularly known as ‘galamsey’, followed.

After several years, the government is under pressure to highlight the gains made so far, following several scandals.

There is an increasing perception that politicians are neck-deep in illegal mining and are frustrating the fight.

Even the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Illegal Mining has not been free from scandals.

Its secretary, Charles Bissue, resigned after an undercover investigation implicated him.

The Criminal Investigations Department (CID) of the Ghana Police Service concluded that Mr Bissue did not circumvent laid down processes.

This was after President Akufo-Addo called for a probe into the matter following a documentary by investigative journalist Anas Aremeyaw Anas.