Charley How Far? ... What's The Colour?

Today, I make my long awaited return to your favourite column “Bad Advice”, it’s been a long time and in as much as I made conscious effort to stay away from writing entirely, truth be told, new ideas always found a way to lay my mind under siege and turn my head into a canvas painting beautiful poetry (some I will start sharing soon). But, in all of these I couldn’t stay away from the threat of Galamsey as I said in my last article “May the blood of the martyrs be… as we count our losses”, because galamsey chew our land and being openly without the decency of closing the mouth.

Today, I’m not here to rehash what we already know and have refused to do, I’m here to remind us that we have a land to hand over to the future generation and at least if we are not improving upon it we need to maintain it. What kind of watchmen are we when the inheritance trusted in our care keeps deteriorating and we care less about it? Let’s ask ourselves if we will keep such a watchman to take care of our properties? The truth is we are such watchmen, I wonder if my kids will experience the kind of childhood I got on the banks of Senensua, the feeling of drinking River Pompo, or walking the banks of Weremfoa? Can we boastfully say “Akyenkwaa a onum Birim?” will river Jimi and all other rivers that have been squeezed out of their skin and for the sake survival bleached themselves into something unrecognizable by the deities that once called their course their home get their natural colour back? Will the arable lands that are now holding heavy metals and the ones that have been manhandled in the search of gold and its nothing but a death trap be redeemed to hold life and roots again? Will Asaase Yaa be happy with the schnapps we wash her forehead with while we do nothing to stop her desecration?

The galamsey problem is a Ghanaian problem and not a political tool, that should make it to the campaign message; it needs a concerted effort to fight it, we don’t need NAIMOS, Blue Water Guard, or Operation Vanguard, sensational news headlines, live tv operations on galamsey or any other slogan operations to fight it, we need the Ghanaian, I mean you and me. The fight should start from individual homes with everyone of doing their bid, make it to the sermons in our shrines, mosques and churches, our voices should be tamed when it comes to galamsey fight. Galamsey is an existential threat and whoever you are, wherever you may be, you are at risk more than you think. Our rivers are muddy, portable water is a luxury in some parts, babies are born deformed, arable lands for farming are increasing becoming difficult, we are gradually losing our forest cover, abandoned galamsey pits are swallowing us, heavy metals are finding a new home in our food crops, and we are quiet.

Charley, I did not mean to bore you with the heaving of my heart, I only came to ask “how far with the colours of our rivers?” if nothing is done very soon we would be importing water and we would write in the books of the future generation that once upon a time our land had rivers running helter-skelter on our lands, and that would be a dent on our already soiled legacy.

Koffi Adu Flair Demigod @ 01/05/26

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