Army, Police, Ahoy – Uproot Galamsey

“Well, in the first place, military service, they don't call it service for nothing. You are actually serving your country. And it is a worthy and valid vocation”- Rick Warren.

I don't want to see the military failing. I want to see the military rising to dignified heights of professionalism… - Aung San Suu Kyi

THE FIGHT AGAINST ILLEGAL MINING notoriously called 'galamsey' (gather am and sell) is a national fight – it is a battle, if not a war– no dispute about that.

The mess this illegal mining has caused cannot be over emphasized; it has accounted for much deterioration in some farming areas; it has led to land degradation and erosion; it has destroyed cocoa farms; it has polluted and damaged our sources of water; and on and so on. Of course, the loss of lives as a result of people falling into pits and abandoned and un-abandoned can hardly be fathomed.

So – it was a big relief when the army and police were called on, together with other security agencies to help fight and wipe out galamsey'. In operation code-named 'Operation Vanguard' the four hundred members of the combined task force were charged to stay at their assigned regions (Ashanti, Western, Eastern) until all forms of illegal mining have been stopped and the mining pits completely destroyed.

These gallant men (and women) had been trained at the Bundase Training Camp in the Ningo Prampram District of the Greater Accra Region. One would say the force men and women have been sufficiently groomed and prepared for the tasks ahead. Besides the training given, adequate provisions in terms of logistics had been made and these included patrol vehicles, welfare packages, and medical facilities.

Speaking at the launch of the operation in Accra this week, the Chairman of the Inter – Ministerial Task Force on illegal Mining, Professor Kwabena Frimpong – Boateng, noted “(your stay) may take several months, perhaps years, but let no one think that this is going to be a nine – day wonder.” Professor Frimpong Boateng continued: “I heard some group of people in the Ashanti Region vowing to resist the task force. My only appeal to them is to use the right channel to make known their grievances instead of fighting the task force.”

The advice to the people who have vowed to resist the task force is a just fair warning to them: make no mistake, people's “eyes are red”, and one would wish that such recalcitrant and adamantine persons take due precaution.

The Defence Minister, Mr Dominic Nitiwul as well as the Chief of Defence Staff, Lieutenant General Obed Akwa and the Inspector General of Police, Mr David Asante –Apeatu had reiterated the need for the cooperation of all Ghanaians to achieve success in our concerted effort to wipe out galamsey. Mr Nitiwul warned any attempt at thwarting the work of the task force, noting, “… the nation and the government are behind the task force.”At the launch were also Mr John Peter Amewu, the Minister of Lands and Natural Resources and Mr Ambrose Dery, the Minister of the Interior.

Mr John Peter Amewu, in an interview, clearly reinforced government intention to sustain the fight against galamsey and the use of the military was to ensure that culprits did not return to the sites when the reclamation programmes began.

Of course, some people entertain the fear that the task force would intimidate the people in the affected areas. The IGP, Asante – Apeatu, rules this out: “…the deployment is not a force to intimate anybody but rather a force to stop unacceptable behaviour that we all as citizens abhor”. He continued: “I will like to thank the government for this bold effort to save our land, forests and water resources”.

Reports indicate that financial institutions in the Amansie West district of Ashanti Region have been badly affected by the presence of the military. An owner of a financial institution claimed: “There are going to be police and soldiers combined and if you dare confront them, they will shoot you dead. So the majority of the people are running away and nobody will run and leave their cash, so they come and take their cash.”

Meanwhile, The National Association of Small Scale Miners is questioning the absence of alternative jobs for thousands of its members following the deployment of the special task force whose task is to enforce the laws on mining. Says Mr Nuhu Mustapha, Secretary for Western Regional branch of the Association, “I as an individual will appreciate the move by the government to move all of them out … now, if you don't want them to mine, what employment have you created that these people are going to benefit from, to put a total stop to this illegality?” Oh, judgement … you recognise 'galamsey' as an illegality… the harm it has done and continues to do to this country… and you want the government to find you an alternative job- before you stop?

Well, ours is a democracy,… talk and be free, but there is a job to do. We have to save this country, at least to protect our farms so that our future generation will not blame us for supervising the destruction of the land.

Should we not thank the Media Coalition Against Galamsey for their relentless effort and campaign against illegal mining? Yes, I think we should. So, soldier-people, police-people, more grease to your elbow. You may sing The O'Jays' song with me: Ship Ahoy, Ship Ahoy…Can't you feel the motion of the ocean…Yours may not be 'ship'; yours may not be 'ocean'. If so, simply say: 'Ahoy'.

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Africanus Owusu-Ansah