Galamsey Menace: Ghana Digging Its Own Grave – Editor Writes   

 

Article by: Sarkodie Samuel

Ghana stands at a crossroad. For more than a decade, the menace of galamsey has moved from a quiet undercurrent to a national emergency, one that now threatens our environment, our economy, and our very identity as a people. What began as small-scale survival mining has morphed into a destructive enterprise powered by powerful financiers, foreign actors, and the silence of those who ought to know better.

Today, cocoa farms that once fed families and powered our export economy lie buried under mounds of polluted sand. Rivers that sustained entire regions like the Pra, Ankobra, Offin, Birim, have turned the colour of rust, thick with mercury and silt.

Communities that once drank from clear flowing water must now rely on tankers, sachets, and prayers. The cost is no longer abstract, it is visible, it is painful, it is national.

Yet galamsey persists, not because solutions are absent, but because political will is inconsistent, and enforcement is often selective. In an era where drones, satellite imagery, and advanced surveillance exist, it is impossible to accept that the state “cannot find” excavators or identify site financiers. The uncomfortable truth is that galamsey survives because it is profitable to those with influence, and costly only to those with no voice such as farmers, rural families, unborn generations who will inherit poisoned soils.

Beyond environmental destruction, galamsey undermines the moral foundation of our nation. When communities watch leaders condemn galamsey publicly while powerful interests fuel it privately, trust in governance erodes. When miners risk their lives daily because illegal mining pays more than legitimate work, it exposes deeper wounds such as unemployment, inequality, and the absence of meaningful opportunity. Galamsey is not only an environmental crisis; it is a socio-economic indictment.

The country cannot legislate its way out of this alone. What we need is a three-front war which includes political honesty, community empowerment, and sustainable livelihood alternatives. Chiefs must stop issuing ambiguous excuses while sacred lands are desecrated under their watch. District assemblies must enforce laws without fear or favour. And government must replace rhetoric with action that is transparent, consistent, and uncompromising.

But, citizens too must take responsibility. We cannot condemn galamsey in principle yet buy cheaper gold, support politicians who shield offenders, or remain silent while our rivers die. National development requires national discipline.

Galamsey is not simply an environmental threat; it is a mirror reflecting our national priorities. If we continue on this path, Ghana risks losing far more than gold, we risk losing the soils that grow our food, the rivers that sustain our lives, and the moral fabric that holds our society together.

There is still time to choose a different future. But the window is closing. Ghana must decide quickly, do we value gold more than the land that makes us Ghanaian?

 

Source: ghanawatchonline.com/0546062832