My Keynote Address at GhIE Conference on Illegal Mining on 27th April 2017

The Daily Graphic on Wednesday 26^th of April 2017 reported that 1.5% of the country surface has been degraded by illegal mining and other environmental activities. “An estimated total amount of GH₵987,707,164.53 [GH₵987.7 million] is required for returning galamsey affected lands to a state close to originality,” according to the International Growth Centre (IGC) Ghana.

The degradation of only five types of natural assets (agricultural soils, forests and savanna woodlands, coastal fisheries, wildlife resources, and Lake Volta’s environment) costs at least US$520 million annually (6.0% of Ghana’s annual GDP). If depletion is reversed and productivity restored, a minute portion of this cost might actually contribute new productivity to the economy each year. However, the vast majority of this cost results from the unsustainable overexploitation of natural resources leading to a tremendous loss of biodiversity. The forestry sector in particular has contributed the most to this degradation cost and this is highly unsustainable. The cost of environmental degradation to GDP represents one-third of Ghana’s US$1.5 billion annual Overseas Development Assistance (ODA). This figure is a low estimate for several reasons. (Prof Rose Mamaa Entsua-Mensah)

This is for the Western Region alone and only a fraction of the real cost of galamsey to the country, but that amount is more than twice the GH₵450million the country needed to kick start its one district one factory industrialization programme.

I quote Prof Rose Mamaa Entsua-Mensah, in here paper Environmental Degradation and Management. There is a story about what happened when God created Ghana. The Angels were not amused with him at all asked “Your Majesty, why is that you are giving so much resources to this small country? You have given them gold, diamonds, bauxite, manganese, forests, water and good soil. That is too much for such a small country’. God smiled and said, “Do not worry we shall see if the people I put in there will be able to manage the resources I have given them”. Now the 64 million dollar question is: Have we and are we managing the resources God has given us well? I think the Angels are weeping for Ghana.

But how did it happen?

What are we doing to our country? In the next 5 years we will be killing each other for water if we do not stop this debasing attitude as a people. Why will we allow our short-term interest to take over our sustainability as a people? We have destroyed most of our water bodies and very fertile lands and we do not seem to be doing nothing about this.

Everyone in this room is the reason we are where we are with galamsey. We all sat by as leaders and allowed this crime to go on till we are almost running out of water and our lands turning useless for agriculture. Where was leadership?

The leadership failure in this regard is attributable to all of us. It is not just the political class, though they have major parts to play. The current government is only a few months old, we have started to start seeing some actions from them.  Minister of Lands & Natural Resources, the President , we have heard your promises and seen some of your action. Please lets see the conclusion to these promise, intents and what you have started. It should turn into solutions and be impactful. The political will is paramount if we will win this battle. President Akufo-Addo, this is one of the battles you have given to the Lord and He is counting on you to fight it. Do not let Him down, “the battle is still for the Lord”.

Yes Professional leadership is key

First, let me talk about political leadership. Political leadership wields power to stop the menace of galamsey, if it has the will. How come it has looked for the destruction of our water bodies and farmlands to go on for so long, for more than a decade when the illegal business became intensified and ruthlessly destructive.

The usual desire to win power is always paramount to politicians. Therefore, they simply will avoid decisions which, though in the national interest, may cost them votes. So though members of parliament and ministers of state have known for a long time that galamsey has been going on in their constituencies, they did not make it part of the important items on their agenda to rid their constituencies of the canker.

In fact, evidence is now emerging that some of the politicians themselves are deeply involved in the galamsey business, which may explain the impunity with which the foreigner illegal miners have operated so far.

Ladies and gentlemen, it was also curious that in the whole of the keenly contested 2016 elections, the mud rivers and gaping pits which confronted politicians as they crisscrossed the country in search of votes never pricked them to make environmental degradation through galamsey a campaign issue. Indeed, of all the promises they made to the people on developing the country, stopping galamsey was not one of them.

In spite of promptings here and there by the media to politicians to indicate their positions on galamsey, the destructive phenomenon was still not an interesting subject to them.

I am aware that a couple of years ago, the government took some steps after public outcry, but they were not sustained and the destructive activities of the illegal miners are still going on.

Another thing is they have the mandate to ensure that the relevant law-enforcement agencies do their work by enforcing the law. However, that did not happen. In fact, some of the miners who have licence for concessions exploited the lax law enforcement and abused their licences to mine in rivers for minerals when the law clearly prohibits it. An example is in the forest reserve in Joabeso where a company Ltd is using prospecting licenses to mine and is destroying the land, and all water bodies, logs are also being wasted. I have information that depict that the Mineral Commission wrote to the company to stop using the prospecting licenses to do mining it is illegal but heeded not. Where are the Professional to stop all of this? There is allegation that the Military are providing protection for these illegal miners. I am using this platform to ask the CDS to look into this and take action.

By neglecting what they could have prevented or, at least, nib in the bud, they have contributed to the problem we are battling with now.

We the media are also partly to be blamed. Yes, we have done a little bit in the past but we need to do some more. So we have woken from our slumber and we have formed this Media Coalition and we dedicating space, time and effort put to sustained pressure and focus on this menace? Let us continue use our prime time and front pages to name and shame and praise where it is due, and unleash our investigative team in a coordinated manner for this task. After all, we are the fourth estate of the realm. If the first three estates have failed us, we should be seeing to de delivering our mandate.

Posterity will not forgive us if we fail in this duty. The state-owned media, GIBA, PRINPAG, Ghana Community Radio Network , GJA with support of our Religious bodies, NCCE, IPR etc, have come together. We can do this and we will succeed. God is on our side.

The next blame goes to our  chiefs, some of whom are directly involved. How could some chiefs have galamsey happening directly behind their palaces  but say nothing about them. How can this heavy-duty equipment operate within your jurisdictions and you claim you do not have any knowledge of it? You are losing your legitimacy as our leaders.

We need to see you rise up against this menace and start doing something about this. You are either part of the solution or you are rather the criminals. Our traditions have prescribed what we do to your type, the criminals.  Be warned, we are gathering evidence and very soon we shall be publishing your faces and names with the evidence in the newspapers.

How many more water companies will stop operating before you wake up from your greedy slumber? Please, we have many good chiefs and I am sure you know what the bad lots among you are doing. Please speak up, else when they come to call who have eaten the snake, your names might also be mentioned as ‘nanka wifo  .  ’ I am calling on my Togbega, Togbe Afede, please use your high office to support this noble effort.

Thank we have seen a few chiefs who have show leadership and decided that no Galamsey in my chiefdom, let us all celebrate Osabarima Mmirrikkissi Okasum Apori, Chief of Akyem Hemang who has declare his Chiefdom as a no go area for illegal mining and #SayNoToGalamseyHere.

Now  priests, pastors, imams, traditional priests, priestesses and other religious leaders, what are you doing about this? Are some of you directly involved? You will account for this.

Our traditional and religious leaders who are the custodians of our sacred groves and rivers, why have you turned a blind eye to the desecration of the abodes of your gods?  Some of you are even preparing charms and powers for these people to use in the destruction of our lands.

If it was those times, you should all be sent to Torko Atonlia, where you will be buried alive with only your shaven heads sticking out and smeared with honey for the ants and the birds to deal with you. You need to speak up and end this destruction.

Now to you the Christian leadership, what do you think Christ will do to you, if He were to come and find that you are not speaking up against this barbarism that is happening in places that you have your churches? Some of you have your members directly involved in this and you are accepting their collections, offering and tithes knowing very well their source of income. Some of you  offer prayers and fast for these criminals. Shame on you priests and pastors who are involved in these evil acts.

I am calling on the Catholic Bishops Conference, the Christian Council, the Pentecostal Council and other Christian groups. Your silence on this national calamity is unacceptable and grievous.

If Christ were to come, He would take out the whip and come after you. He is asking of the blood of the many people who are dying of mercury and other deadly poisons that are used in mining, those dying in the collapsed pits from your hands. You and I will not be spared if we do not act  now.

This has to stop. Can you tell what will happen with the arms and ammunition that these people are holding when  gold runs out?  After all it is an exhaustive resource, so it will surely run out. We are building a lot of  ragtag armies and they will turn on us when they have destroyed the land . To add insult to injury, some of us Ghanaians are only fronting for some Chinese and other foreigners and taking the crumbs while they rape our land.

This has to stop and it should stop right now. We call on concerned Ghanaians to step up and be counted in the fight to stop the menace of galamsey. In the next edition, I will focus on the security forces and other regulatory bodies who are either shirking their responsibilities or are involved directly in this shameful act. This includes a public institution which is using inmates entrusted to its care to engage in this illegal act. Stop it or you will be exposed. 

Well, ladies and gentlemen, I cannot point fingers at the others without admitting our own failure as a professional body. The Ghana Institution of Engineers is another level of leadership. This is where we also failed the nation as a body of engineers. We also sat by and allowed the degradation to go on. Humbly, I think our case is worse because we could have dealt with the galamsey phenomenon in many ways.

One, as Ghana Institution of Engineers, we have a voice, one that can influence decisions and bring about change. We never engaged in any advocacy against galamsey, though the media brought evidence of its destructive effects. Thank God we have also started be it late

Two, even if we could not work towards its elimination, what did we do to mitigate its effect on lands and rivers? I am talking about engineering solutions. Could the members of the institution design environmentally friendly equipment for mining in rivers that does not muddy them? Can we do something better that the Changfa for artisanal mining on land. Can the Ghana Institution of Engineers develop an engineering solution to make land reclamation by artisanal miners easy? If the institution could do this, it will reduce, if not eliminate, the destructive effect of legal artisanal mining.

What roles have our members played in the Mining Companies and regulatory bodies? Why have we not called them to account?

The result of this collective failure is the poisoned rivers and gaping holes in bushes that are death traps to us. As professionals with science background, we are very much aware of the dire consequence of mercury and cyanide. While cyanide is a sharp deadly poison whose effect can be instant, mercury can be stored up in aquatic lives like fishes and even in women for a long time and do damage to humans later.

Effects

Studies undertaken by the CSIR, which evaluated concentrations of trace metals in drinking sources in the Tarkwa area revealed that 33% of boreholes and 58% of river waters exceeded the WHO guideline value of 400 µg/l for Manganese (Mn) in Drinking water.

Crude refinery of gold happening in the center of town. For example mercury vapour through inhalation can cause memory and speech loss, numbness, vision problems, convulsion and in some cases death.

Arsenic can cause skin lesions including hyper-pigmentation and cancer. Acute poisoning can result in death. Most of our people who are in the pits are exposed to arsenic do not wear any protection, so black foot disease is also common

Mercury usage in gold refinery has an optimal Hg to Au ratio (Hg:Au) of about 1 (v/v), but gold washers in Ghana commonly add greater quantities (Hg:Au = 4:1) to ensure that all available Au is amalgamated. Therefore, Mercury is be inhaled by the workers and also contaminate soil, tailing, stream sediments and water close to the processing sites. We are also informed that all Mercury used in the processing is sent into the air as a means of disposal. Indeed, Mercury pollution of river water, sediments, soil and mine workers in Ghana has already been reported (Golow and Adzei, 2003; Adimado and Baah, 2002; Babut et al,. 2003).

 Turbidity level in the Pra has reached 1000 NTU at Antoakrom, Twifo Praso, Muoso, Dunkwa-on-Offin, Appiah Nkwanta, Daboase, Adankrono (Kade) as recorded by the WRI in Feb 2013. Note that it is said that the maximum turbidity level in drinking water is 5NTU and that to support aquatic life is 25NTU. So what are we doing to ourselves? The WRI has developed the water quality index. WQI of more than 80 is Good -Unpolluted and/or recovering from pollution, while less than 25 Grossly polluted. The following are grossly polluted recording Kwahu Praso 22.4, Antoakrom 21.2, while Beposo has poor quality 36.4, Odumase on the Brim 44.8 and Dunkwa-on-Offin on the Offin 46.1

These high values will have effect on the filters for water treatment. It will also increase treatment cost by using a lot of alum (Aluminium sulphate) for coagulation in water treatment. (Original 15 bags of alum increased to 75 bags currently due to turbidity). How many of our water treatment plants have not been closed. Lets us note that Ghana shares the Tano and Bia water basin with Cote D’Ivoire. So one of the effects is potential cross boarder conflict and it came to the for when the Minister for Environment visited that country.

Activities of small scale miners especially the illegal ones degraded the land more than their counterpart in the large-scale sector due to weak legal regimes. What is more disturbing is the fact that the Chinese, with their technology block the water course, deny the inhabitants source of drinking water and deteriorate the quality, consequently reducing the quantity of water available to the people for drinking purposes.

• The diversion of the river courses create shortage in water quantity.
• The top soil is also destroyed and cannot yield good crop production.
• The blockage also deteriorates water quality thereby affecting our drinking water supply.
• It causes land slides into river Ankobra, worsening the state of the already polluted river

The foreigners (Mali, Togo, DR Congo, Niger, Nigeria, Burkina Faso, Germany, USA, but mainly Chinese) with the connivance of Ghanaians are the main culprits and should be stopped.

The common chemicals used by mining industry are mainly Mercury and Cyanide. Mercury vapour through inhalation can cause memory and speech loss, numbness, vision problems, convulsion and in some cases death.

It is obvious that we cannot hope to succeed much in agriculture if we do not deal with the galamsey threat. This is more important in the light of the government’s Planting for Food and Jobs programme. How do farmers whose lands have been devastated by galamsey participate in this laudable programme? This is why the President should move relentlessly against galamsey.

Madam Ing. Chairperson, without sounding xenophobic, I wish to state that the impunity with which the foreigners with the aid of Ghanaians destroy our lands and rivers is insulting to the Ghanaian conscience. In their own country, their Water Law protects their water bodies with comprehensive provisions. Why must they think that they have the licence to pollute our rivers and degrade and lands and worse of all walk on community members who protest against their actions in the bid to protect their lands.

But one cannot blame them much. Some of our own people who have political or traditional power have compromised their authority for the immediate monetary benefit they will derive from the destruction of our lands.

For example, how can it be explained that the country’s mining law is explicit on who can be granted a licence for small scaler mining and yet the Chinese are in that sector.

Ladies and gentlemen, for clarity, I would like to quote the law: “A licence for small-scale mining operation shall not be granted to a person unless that person is a citizen of Ghana. “ Minerals and Mining Act 2006 (Act 703) [Section 83(a)].

How else should clarity be brought to this? Yet, for pittance, we sold our birth right and got our lands destroyed and rivers polluted.

So the Minister & the President have show leadership. Like the minster did we need to look into the what some leaders have done

• Police
• Immigration
• Intelligence Officers
• Chiefs
• Professional
  • EPS
  • Minerals Commission
  • Mining Companies both large and small
  • Academia
• Some other corporate bodies who have also benefited
  • The Banks
  • Chemical Suppliers
  • Heavy Duty Equipment Suppliers
  • International Community

In conclusion, all I wish to tell my compatriots is that we should see galamsey as a threat to our very survival, our very future. We should treat the threat with all the seriousness it deserves to save our rivers because we need them for drinking. We need them to stay alive. No one should stay on the fence. This is a battle for every patriotic Ghanaian. Thank you and god bless you.

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