Can Water Win Over Gold In Former Gold Coast? The Strange Case Of Galamsey

“Gold? Yellow, glittering precious gold?… This yellow slave Will knit and break religions, bless th'accursed, make the hoar leprosy adored, place thieves, And give them title, knee and approbation…”

William Shakespeare: Timon of Athens. Act IV Sc III

“When gold argues the cause, eloquence is impotent.” - Publilius Syrus

REVEREND DR. ASANTE ANTWI and Lieutenant General (rtd) J.B. Danquah chose different professions. Whilst the former used the cross to save sinners, the latter swore by the sword to protect and defend Ghana, even at his peril. Both have retired from their respective professions, but are not retarded; both come from Akyem Moseaso. More importantly, both are concerned that they cannot say with pride: “Akyenkwaa nana a onom Birim” (proud sons of Akyem who drink from Birim.)

In August, 2015, these two sons of Akyem – Moseaso, together with Kingsley Dwomo, CEO of Capital View Hotel in Koforidua, led some residents of the town to demonstrate against environmental degradation and indiscriminate mining in the area. As reported in the 'Daily Guide' of August 14, 2015, “The angry demonstrators who were clad in red arm, head and neck bands, held placards with inscriptions like 'President Mahama, save our lands and rivers'; 'Do not think about only your stomachs'; 'Think about the youth'. The former CDS… accused Kakoase Extraction Ventures of using illegal mining methods to extract gold from their concessions and polluting water bodies in the process”.

The Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, the Okyenhene, Nana Amoatia Ofori Panin and other chiefs had spoken to warn Ghanaians of the menace of 'galamsey'. Civil organisations like the media, 'StopGalamseyNow, IMANI Ghana, the Centre for Democratic Development, the Ghana Anti – Corruption Coalition, the Africa Centre for Energy Policy (ACEP) and others have all put their shoulders to the wheel and have condemned the menace of pollution. The Christian Council of Ghana, churches, including the Catholic Church, the Church of Pentecost, the Evangelical Church of Ghana have all joined in the crusade against 'galamsey'.

The Chief Justice, Mrs. Georgina Theodora Wood has designated 14 courts in Accra, Sekondi, Kumasi, Cape Coast, Koforidua, Sunyani and Bolgatanga to deal with all mining offences. The Chief Justice notes: “…. We are prepared to lend our support to this renewed fight against illegal mining to stamp out the menace and thereby protect the country's natural resources particularly our water bodies, for the current and future generations”.

Honourable Peter Amewu's position is not enviable. His is the herculean task of untying the Gordian knot–'galamsey' (gather am and sell). In him is the trust to protect our water bodies. What happens at the Minerals Commission? On November, 10, 2016, three days after the Presidential elections, the Commission registered Exton Cubic Group Limited and wrote: “We refer to your letter dated October 26, 2016 for a mining lease covering a land area of… (at Kyekyewere, Kyirayaso, Mpasaso) in the Ashanti Region and wish to inform you that the Commission will recommend to the Minister of Lands and Natural Resources to grant you the lease subject to the payment of the following fees … (GH¢ 1389.00 – processing fee and …)” What about the Terra Pangaea Resources Management Limited registered on 14^th December, 2016 to undertake exploration work to prove viability of areas for small – scale miners at Abura Dunkwa? The Minister's broom is sweeping the Minerals Commission clean of lazy workers, sleepers, drunkards and corrupt elements at their workplace.

Water? The World Health Organisations has warned: “The amount of fresh water on earth is under constant pressure. Water quality can be compromised by the presence of infectious agents, toxic chemicals and radiological hazards”. We can live without gold, but we cannot survive without water, and as Mc Kinley warns: “Mining is an industry whose primary and first victim is water”.

Water? Samuel Taylor Coleridge in 'The Rime of the Ancient Mainer' wrote: “Water, water, everywhere. And all the boards did shrink; Water, water, everywhere Nor any drop to drink”. In 1828, William Heath drew a cartoon in which a woman dropped her tea – cup in horror upon discovering the monstrous contents of a magnified drop of water from River Thames, revealing the impurity of London drinking water, and Londoners called water from Thames 'Monster Soup'; Michael Faraday wrote in the 'Times': “The smell was very bad and common to the whole of the water, it was the same as that which comes from the gully holes in the streets; the whole river was for the time a real server”. Unsurprisingly, the first cholera epidemic which left 6,536 dead, hit London in 1831 and Charles Dickens called the Thames “a deadly sewer”.

In attacking Puebla Viejo mining concern in Haiti, the farmers complained about the failure of their coffee plants since mining operations began, and falling rain had a peculiar stench. 10,000 people died of cholera in Haiti between 2010 and 2014.

El Salvador may be the first country to prohibit mining of all forms – after the law makers had voted overwhelmingly for it. Mining was destroying the county's rivers. In May, 2016 activists from communities affected by metal mining in Peru, El Salvador, Colombia, South Africa, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Mexico and the Dominican Republic of Congo, Mexico and Dominion Republic converged in Haiti and participated in “Kale Je Noun Pou Defann Lavi Non” (Open Your Eyes Wide To Defend Our Lives).

Nana Dwomoh Sarpong, the founder and President of Friends of River and Water Bodies may have realised that his efforts are yielding fruits. His crusade, “Water is life” earned him the best environmental NGO in 1997 and 1999, and special mention by the Otumfuo, Osei Tutu II, Asantehene in 2005.

Who does not get haunted? The President, Nana Akufo Addo says his government has no problem with anyone, including the Chinese, over mining, but “… we are not targeting any person or group, but what we want is for our laws to work…” Is it not alarming that Ghana will face possible scarcity of potable water in the near future – with Densu, Birim, Volta Lake which fed various treatment plants with raw water being overly polluted, the Kibi and Daboase Water Plants being threatened. How lovely it was to cup your palm and drink from streams!

During a press conference by Ghana National Association of Small – Scale Miners (GNASSM) at Kumasi early this month, tears flowed uncontrollably from some members claiming a ban on their activities would have catastrophic consequences on them and the country. Crocodile tears? To those who have invested in gold mining, sorry. Godwin Armah, the Secretary stresses: “We should be allowed to work, provide job opportunities for the people and also support the economy”. Some members have threatened to dump the NPP in 2020 if they got flushed out. An argument ad hominem – an argument based on emotion rather than factual reason or logic; it is a fallacy. A government 'afeared'? A big NPP man in Bantama shuns this braggadocio, and says he would be happy to see NPP lose, and 'galamsey' exeunted, rather than the reverse. Do we have to pull down our houses because the walls contain gold? Do we have to damage our farms in exchange for gold?

The Portuguese who were the first colonialists to arrive in Ghana in 1472 saw an abundance of gold, and named the area they stayed, El Mina (the Mine), and our country 'Gold Coast'. It rained gold; even dog chains were made of gold; goldsmiths were in abundance; and our grandparents stored wealth (agudee) for us. They did not pollute our rivers with toxic chemicals like mercury, cyanide, or sulfuric acid. Our existence had never been threatened before as it is threatened now. Your top horse is to wager on H2O (hydrogen oxide—water) rather than Au (aurum—gold).

Africanus Owusu-Ansah
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