The Party Manifestos Do Not Mention Galamsey – Not Even Once!

I have perused the manifestos of the two parties that have a chance of forming a government in Ghana after the 7 December 2016 elections.

Neither the document prepared by the NDC nor that of the NPP mentions the gravest crisis facing Ghana today – the wanton destruction of our land and water resources bygalamsey.

In case someone might think that I am exaggerating when describe galamsey as the gravest crisis facing Ghana, let me provide this evidence:

I heard from some enterprising young men who have recently left the diaspora to return home -- a very very brave decision -- that they were in the process of trying to establish a farm somewhere in the rural areas. I thought the location of the proposed project was a bit far from Accra, where demand for their farm products would be heaviest. So to try and help them I called a man I knew was in charge of some farms in the Eastern Region – less than 70 miles from Accra, in fact – and asked him, “That parcel of land near the Supong River which was once used to cultivate cassava – can it still be used for the same purpose?”

His answer shocked me. “The Suponso land has been completely destroyed by the galamsey people. No-one can get near it to grow anything!” he said.

“WHAAAAAT?” I shot back. “But Suponso is so close to people's homes! How could it have been destroyed without anyone noticing?”

“But you must surely know that most of the galamsey operators work at night? Or on Sundays, when they know no-one can detect what they are doing?” the man said.

I nearly cried when I heard this. Suponso as I knew it when I was growing up was one of the most attractive farms around. As I have mentioned, it was very close to home. The land was flat and fertile – it suited cassava very well. It was also good for plantain and cocoyam. So one could rush into the farm at around 6 a.m. – if necessary – and bring home a bunch of apem plantains plus loads of nkontomire [cocoyam leaves] and have a hearty breakfast before making one's way to school. At worst, one could go into the farm, cook a meal there, consume it, and take a “shortcut” direct to school.

And now, Suponso had become derelict land? Because it was close to town, whatever was produced on the farm could easily have been carted to the roadside for transportation to Accra. By the same taken, it would have been easy to construct a road along which tractors could have been driven to bring the harvest(s) home for storage en route to their urban destination. In one breath, my dream of assisting the youngsters to increase the food and agri-based industrial production of our country had turned into rubbish.

Yet, even though the manifestos of our two big political parties – the NDC and the NPP – both speak of increasing agricultural production, neither manifesto says one word about the devastation that galamsey has wrought on our lands and water-bodies. They both talk about irrigation. The NDC manifesto actually waxes lyrical about what can be done through “aquaculture”. It says:

QUOTE: “Aquaculture has a high potential to bridge the supply-demand gap for fish and fish products. It is a highly productive economic activity that has the potential of creating thousands of sustainable jobs.” UNQUOTE

But fish does not only come from the sea. In fact, as far as rural dwellers are concerned, the greatest source of fish is the river or big stream. Fish traps (adwokuo) and hand-crafted fishing tackle, as well as nets, are used to catch fresh-water fish both for subsistence and for commerce. Indeed, the smoking of fish is a major economic activity in towns and villages that are fortunate enough to be sited near rivers and big streams. However the trade, I am afraid, has been hugely undermined by galamsey.

The NPP manifesto also talks eloquently about harnessing water for agricultural purposes:

QUOTE: “The country is richly endowed with natural resources like fertile lands, lakes, rivers, forests, wildlife, fish and minerals... The NPP policy on forestry resources will seek to rehabilitate degraded forest reserve areas through planting of fast-growing indigenous and exotic species, conservation and sustainable use of natural resources to support conservation and biodiversity. .. [We shall] comprehensively protect our water catchment areas” .UNQUOTE

The careful reader will notice that the NPP manifesto, while promising to “comprehensively protect our water catchment area”, fails to provide any context for the fulfilment of the pledge.

In fact, I gather from coded allusions made by some politicians that most of them consider the mention of galamsey as a major “turnoff” for voters and so have been avoiding the subject like the plague.

But I think that in making galamsey a taboo subject, the two major parties are making a huge mistake. Succeeding generations will curse them if water becomes extremely scarce in the Ghana of tomorrow.

The shock and sadness with which I heard of the destruction of the farmland at Suponso will be as nothing compared to the anger our grand-children will feel when they walk on the sandy and muddy beds of what had once been mighty rivers – Birem, Oti, Ankobra, Prah, Offin, Tanoh, Densu and others.

Besides, I think the politicians are under-estimating the intelligence of voters by presuming that a large proportion of them are so shallow-mended as to approve of galamsey. I know that extreme poverty can impel people to do things that they would not normally do. But to take matters as far as to destroy the water-bodies that provide human beings with water to drink and survive?

No, I don't believe that the ordinary Ghanaian voter is so bereft of good sense that he will vote against a politician who promised to take firm action to end galamsey and save our progeny from dying of thirst. What is needed is that a properly-researched effort should be made to educate the voters on the danger that galamsey poses to the future of our country.

By the way, this is not the first time a national disaster of immense proportions has confronted rural Ghana. During the late 1940s and early 1950s, a disease known as “swollen shoot” attacked the cocoa farms of Ghana. The British colonial authorities found, through scientific research, that the only way to tackle the disease was to cut down cocoa trees that showed signs that they had been attacked by the carrier of the swollen shoot disease, the mealybug. So they sent gangs of agricultural workers to go into cocoa farms to compulsorily cut down cocoa trees seen to show signs of being afflicted with the swollen shoot disease.

But they made one mistake: they did not take the time to get the people of Ghana “on side”. And the people reacted. Violently. They beat up and sometimes even killed the labourers who were sent to cut down their cocoa trees. For it is not easy to grow cocoa, nurture it and get it to yield fruit, which one plucked and sold for money. And to see a government employee enter your farm without your consent and with a few strokes of a machete or mattock, make a bonfire of the trees you have cultivated for years, was to make them see red. And they attacked the "farm=wreckers".

Eventually, the colonial administration realised its mistake, set up an organisation called the “Cocoa Rehabilitation” Department (distinct from the Department of Agriculture) and used special “liaison officers” drawn from the affected communities themselves to fully explain what “cocoa rehabilitation” was about. Not only that – they agreed to pay compensation to the cocoa farmers for every tree that was cut down.

End of problem. Within a decade, Ghana had regained its position as the world's leading supplier of cocoa.

A similar, imaginative approach is needed to bring an end to our suicidal galamsey menace. Our politicians should be bold and wise enough to find out how best to attack the problem. The British did not flinch when they realised that we were about to lose our cocoa industry. If they,who knew they were about to leave Ghana soon, intelligently faced our problem squarely in the face, how much more our politicians who are asking the people to vote for them because – they say they can safeguard the welfare of the people?

Galamsey must go. And it is the politicians who can and – MUST – end it.