In my last outing on this page (‘How to Stop ‘Galamsey’ Once and For All’ published under the Periscope Depth in the Daily Searchlight of 20th July, 2022) I proposed what I still believe to be the most comprehensive plan this country can devise and implement to stem the tide of illegal mining, which seems to have overtaken our nation like a plague.
Predictably, of course, the people who needed to read this article did not read it, and if they read it, they did not see the necessity to do what is necessary.
What I proposed so many months back, in a nutshell, is that fighting illegal mining in Ghana required a multi-sectorial approach, led by the President himself, because the canker had assumed pandemic proportions. Well, whatever happened, happened, and the months and weeks have come to pass, with even more lands and water bodies destroyed.
What has become apparent, is that the situation has not seen an improvement. The people who are determined to destroy our lands so that they can reap mineral resources to build concrete castles, buy the latest Range Rovers and to sleep with the most beautiful women (or the most painted up ones on social media) are still in business, and in spite of best efforts, there do not seem to be any hope that they would go out of business any time soon.
Against this background, the group OccupyGhana has proposed that the President imposes the State of Emergency in the areas affected by illegal mining. Whilst the proposal sounds radical enough and indeed is an echo of how flabbergasted and disgusted most Ghanaians feel about what is happening to our lands and mining bodies, I do not think that the proposal is feasible, or necessary and would lead to the required outcomes.
First, the proposal is not feasible for a number of reasons. The lands and rivers that are affected by illegal mining, lie within and among and bordering other regions and towns that do not have the problem of illegal mining. Declaring a State of Emergency, with its concomitant suspension of rights and movements, would have serious derogatory effect on people who have no relationship with the matter at issue.
Secondly, declaring a State of Emergency, has the potential of imposing hardship on people who are already victims of illegal mining. By this, I mean that people who have already lost vast farm lands and have their sources of water destroyed, would be faced with the further hardship of living under a State of Emergency.
Thirdly, the conditions that arise under a State of Emergency are not discriminatory enough. Hardship would be imposed on all and sundry, both the guilty and the innocent. This is unacceptable, and is not feasible.
Secondary, a declaration of a State of Emergency is not necessary, in so far as other methods are in place to combat the harm being caused. By other measures, I mean the set of measures I proposed in my last piece on this page, that is, an inter-sectorial arrangement between the Ministries of Local Government, Interior, Defence, Agriculture and Lands and Natural Resources.
Indeed, many other measures can be meaningfully taken, that would lead to results, as against imposing a State of Emergency, which would cause more hardship than it would cure.
Thirdly, declaring a State of Emergency in the affected areas is unlikely to lead to the required outcomes, which is to ensure that people do not engage in illegal mining. Rather, the effect may rather be counter-productive.
For instance, a State of Emergency would require the police and military to police the jurisdiction and enforce the conditions. It would also mean that where the lawbreakers can suborn the will if the military and/or police, they can use or abuse them to their heart’s desire, with no one being the wiser. In all likelihood, the effect would be counter to what is proposed. That would mean that instead of the State of Emergency leading to a reduction of the harm, it would actually lead to an escalation.
Therefore, instead of a State of Emergency, I propose the measures that I suggested in my last article supra, where I proposed the following, and I quote;
“I am suggesting, to make the work of Jinapor easier, that the President form a Cabinet Task Force comprising the Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, the Minister of Local Government, the Minister of Interior, and the Minister of Defence, the Minister of Agriculture, the Attorney-General, as well as a representative from the Judiciary, and task this committee to end the menace of illegal mining.
The President, in forming this committee, would charge the various members of the Committee as follows;
- The Minister of Local Government should send a circular to all District, Municipal and Metropolitan Chief Executives to immediately set out parameters by which they would end illegal mining in their jurisdictions within three months, and comply with these parameters, and each MMDCE who fails to comply with these guidelines would be removed from office at the end of the three months;
- The Minister of Interior should charge the Inspector-General of Police to charge all regional, district and other commanders to investigate and cause the arrest of all persons engaged in illegal mining within their operational areas within three months, these commanders to liaise with their various MMDCEs on this order, and failure to ensure the eradication of illegal mining would lead to demotions and reduction of command;
- The Minister of Defence to support the Minister of Interior and IGP with men and logistical support;
- The Minister of Agriculture to propose and implement policies that would ensure the setting up of viable agricultural enterprises in the rural areas, with focus on areas where illegal mining thrive, such plan to be implemented within three months;
- The Attorney-General to put in place personnel and logistical support for the prosecution of individuals arrested in the fight against illegal mining using constitutional rules of fair trial;
- The Chief Justice to ensure the provision of courts and judges for this purpose.
- The Minister of Lands and Natural Resources to coordinate these efforts; and
- The Committee to deliver clear results within three months, and to have brought illegal mining in Ghana to a complete stop within six months;
- And sanctions to be deployed against these Ministers at the end of the period upon the registration of failure to comply within three months.”
This was my proposal made as far back as July, and I believe that they still constitute the best solution to ridding our country from the menace of illegal mining.
(This article was first published in the column PERSICOPE DEPTH of the Daily Searchlight of 05/10/2022. The Daily Searchlight appears on the newsstands of Ghana every working day and for sale online twenty-four hours a day all day throughout the world on www.ghananewsstand.com).
