Part I established the basis of dealing with irresponsible mining (galamsey), by tackling it from the source, and not the usual African/Ghanaian way of dealing with a problem from the ‘surface’, which will most likely provide a temporary relief, but can NEVER serve as a lasting solution!
According to Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, “if the fundamentals are weak, the exchange rate will expose you” (Bawumia, 2014).
Grounding my argument on the rationale behind this economic principle, if the root cause of galamsey is not terminated, the survival of galamsey following a declaration of a state of emergency or whatever stopgap measure, will expose the government to public ridicule and opprobrium.
Part II will juxtaposition three (3) issues in the UK vis-a-vis what pertains or would most likely be the situation in Ghana. The 3 issues are: the case of a 5-year-old boy; fracking; and military exercises.
Somewhere in 2012 in the UK, I was dropping a friend’s 2 kids at school one morning. The youngest of the 2 was a male aged just over 5 years called Kwesi. On our way, I drove through an amber light (commonly referred to as yellow in Ghana) at a set of traffic lights.
According to the UK Department of Transport, amber means STOP. However, the driver may carry on only if the amber appears after one has crossed the stop line or the driver is so close to it (the stop line) that to pull up (to stop) might cause an accident. I had gone past the stop line when the amber light came on, so I carried on.
Fortunately, there was a camera installed at those traffic lights, which meant that if the traffic rule(s) had been violated, a ticket would come through the post slapping me with a fine and penalty points on my license.
The little boy insisted that I had gone through a red light. I explained to him that I had crossed the stop line when the amber light came on, so no traffic rule had been violated, but he wasn’t having any of that.
Since I risked an arrest should he report the incident to his class teacher, on arrival at the school, I went along with him to his class teacher and explained to the teacher what happened on our way. The teacher responded that the school will make contact with the Police to verify my submission, since a camera was installed at those traffic lights.
Let’s come back home to Ghana. What does a 5-year-old know about traffic lights in Ghana? Whose responsibility is it to teach kids some basic civic duties and/or road traffic regulations? The only traffic lesson I ever had in Ghana as a kid was from my upright illiterate late dad. After I used subtle means to learn how to ride his motorcycle, he advised me to always stop at major junctions/intersections and look left, right, look both sides again before manoeuvring through.
Am not attempting to portray the UK as a perfect setting. However, the point am trying to establish here is that at a very young age in the UK, kids are taught some basic stuff with regard to living responsibly, including not destroying or damaging the environment.
I remember sitting in class during both my undergraduate and postgraduate studies in the UK and rabbits will run into the classroom, roam around, sit with their ears raised, and the whites will comment that they looked cute. Who taught them not to catch and eat rabbits as is the case in Ghana?
At a very young age, the kids are taught not to litter the place, not to cut down trees, etc. It is the responsibility of both the parents and teachers to do this.
Clearly, both parents and teachers, myself included, have failed to inculcate this habit of being law abiding and protecting the environment into our children.
Parents and teachers cannot absolve themselves from blame for being one of the root causes of irresponsible mining (galamsey). A flawed educational system is largely to blame here.
The second issue to look at is fracking. Fracking is the process of injecting liquid at high pressure into subterranean rocks, boreholes, etc. so as to force open existing fissures and extract oil or gas from the rocks. This is to do with underground rocks, and not surface rocks. A company called Cuadrilla was given the green light by the UK government to proceed with fracking.
However, anti-fracking campaigners launched a series of protests and ended up suing the UK government.
The High Court held that the government failed to consider scientific evidence against fracking. It added that it was material to consider scientific evidence, including the effects on climate change in deciding the policy on fracking, and the government had failed to do so.
The Judge criticised the way the public consultation was carried out, calling part of it “so flawed in its design and processes as to be unlawful”.
What is the situation like in Ghana? According to a standard prospecting license, mining operations cannot be conducted within 100 meters of a river or stream without prior written consent from the Minister.
Who was consulted before this 100 meters cap was arrived at?
The framers of this law probably forgot that rivers or streams have tributaries, surface runoffs, springs, etc. The question is, if mining is being conducted 150 meters away from the main river, but conducted on a surface runoff that feeds the said river, is this a violation of the law or not? Anyway, the legal regime governing mining operations in this country, will be the subject of a separate write-up.
The third and final point to consider is the issue of military exercises.
In the UK, when on military exercise, soldiers are not permitted to treat the environment anyhow. Soldiers on bush exercise are not permitted to cut down tree branches or trees without permission from the Council (in the case of Ghana, District, Municipal or Metropolitan Assembly). When a soldier is allocated his area to dig his trench, the top soil with the green grass is first scooped and put on one side before digging commences. At the end of the exercise, the trench is filled with the sand and the top soil with the grass is placed back on top. If one walks a few meters away from the ‘battlefield’, and look back, the land appears undisturbed.
Even though the exercises are carried out in the bush where members of the public are not present, the superior officers in-charge usually enforce compliance to the letter. As a veteran of Her Majesty’s Armed Forces, I personally went through this.
What is the position of the law in respect of protecting the environment in this manner in Ghana? If we have a law like this in Ghana, will the military comply with its provisions to the letter?
Part III will consider socio-cultural factors coupled with proposals aimed at reducing galamsey and its concomitant consequences to the barest minimum, since it has been in existence for centuries. The difference between now and then being that, of late, the illegal miners have become more brazen and ruthless!!
Apologies to my renowned Professor and readers for the long write-up.
Part III loading ……
Alhassan Salifu Bawah
(son of an upright peasant farmer)
