Feature by Mildred Siabi-Mensah
Scrolling through the internet for daily information feed, videos and pictures from the Samreboi floods popped up.
Samreboi is a rural town in the Wassa Amenfi West Municipal District of Ghana’s Western Region.
It sits at an elevation of roughly 48 to 74 metres above sea level, nestled within the lush, low-lying forest zones characteristic of south-western Ghana.
The town is heavily influenced by the Tano and Samre rivers. In its natural state, the basin could handle large volumes of water. But illegal mining and the disruption of the area’s topography have changed that.
The natural landscape has been heavily altered in recent years due to severe deforestation and illegal mining, popularly known as “galamsey”.
The degradation of natural buffers and the silting of riverbeds have worsened the terrain, resulting in blocked waterways and altered drainage patterns.
This has caused the Tano and Samre rivers to overflow during torrential rains.No wonder floods are becoming an increasingly shocking phenomenon in the area.
“For years, excavators have clawed mercilessly at the riverbanks, stripping the land of its natural protection,” Mr. Joseph Nelson, the Western Regional Minister, wrote on his Facebook page.
The Samre and Tano rivers have been choked with silt. Their channels have narrowed, and their capacity to hold water has been destroyed.
More than 200 houses across Aboi, Cocoase, Popolozzo, Nsuo Akyir, and Roman Hill — all communities in Samreboi — have been swallowed by floodwaters. Twenty-six buildings have collapsed entirely, and thousands of residents have been displaced. Illegal mining is creating refugees in their own homeland.
A team visit by the Western Regional Minister, NADMO and other stakeholders also revealed how haphazard construction and indiscriminate dumping of refuse had clogged waterways. As is always the case, water will find its natural or artificial course.
Mr. Samuel Nartey, a cocoa farmer at Ohiampeanika, lamented how a two-room house he built for his children had been swept away by the floods, leaving the family stranded.
He said the house was intended to support his children’s education in Samreboi, but the disaster has left them uncertain about their living arrangements.
Some residents expressed displeasure that illegal mining activities have unleashed such a catastrophe on the enclave and called for immediate behavioural change to save the future of the area.
They urged the municipality to take decisive action against illegal mining.
“Temporary relief cannot be the answer to such a creeping calamity. What we need is swift enforcement of the laws,” some residents said.
The galamsey ball continues to be in the court of state actors, community leaders, and all well-meaning Ghanaians. Let’s play it well now, for a good judgement by posterity.
