April 2024 marked the 30^th anniversary of the first post-apartheid elections in South Africa.

The Freedom day celebration is a reminder of the interminable sacrifices made by some individuals – notably Nelson Mandela and a host of many others, and the nation as a whole, to wean themselves off unjust segregation by the minority.

The ills of the Apartheid regime were many and varied, and deeply affected the conscience of the black race. There were a bunch of discriminatory laws that drove oppression of the non-white population leading to gross inequality, repression, human rights violations, education inequalities, sanctions, and economic exploitations among many others.

The remedy for Apartheid came in many forms but took a lot of significant opposition, collaboration, both local and international pressures in the form of negotiations and sanctions – both economic and cultural. This also led to the formation of the ANC, PAC, UDF, and the Commonwealth Eminent Persons Group which members included Oliver Tambo, Thabo Mbeki and had Olusegun Obasanjo as the spokesperson.

In page 36 of the book ‘ The Thabo Mbeki I know’, Obasanjo writes that when the members of the Eminent Persons Group met with Margaret Thatcher in 1986, she had proposed a reformation of the Apartheid system but he said to her ‘ Look, apartheid is like Satan. If God felt there was a way of reforming Satan, he would not have driven him out of his abode in heaven …. apartheid was not reformable; it just had to be exorcised’.

Like Apartheid, the dire consequences of illegal mining (also known as Galamsey) in Ghana are both frightening and brutal, and have both an immediate and striking long-term effect on all facets of the nation.

In the quest to make economic gains for a few, the whole nation is scaringly on the brink of natural water shortage from largescale pollution of all major bodies, food production decline due to deforestation and devastating farmlands, and a host of many other economic, health and social effects.

In a recent interview on Joynews, Prof Yoke, the vice president of the Ghana Medical Association explained that ‘most of the food available on the market today may be eventually contaminated due to illegal mining activities in rural areas’ – and that NO ONE is safe until galamsey is brought to a complete halt. He went on to explain the long-term effects of these contaminated foods on our vital organs and how the recent sharp rise in kidney-related cases may be linked to the effects of galamsey.

Have you read or seen the disturbing news and images of strange birth defects on neonates and how NICUs in areas close to mining sites are grappling with such cases?

It is quite outrageous to read comments and news items on which political party have polluted more water bodies than the other – and the very laid-back approach in addressing this wild menace.

I recently came across a quote by Winston Churchill which states that – ‘an appeaser is one who feeds a crocodile, hoping it will eat him last' – when addressing the policy of appeasement that was prevalent in the second world war.

But in the case of the galamsey shame, the whole nation are appeasers and placating ourselves into hoping that someone else would solve our problems.

Oliver Tambo, Thabo Mbeki, Olusegun Obasanjo, Nelson Mandela and many other ‘fathers’ of the anti-apartheid crusade knew that the task ahead was almost impossible but also knew that allowing it to fester had more dire consequences, – so they had to make a call for a complete destruction of the cruel system.

GMA, NMC and a host of others may be our ‘anti-galamsey’ crusaders in this case but this canker demands more than these agencies, it would take our collective national effort to speak up, write up and kick against any form of reformation of this dangerous menace.

Illegal mining must be completely exorcised to save humanity, irrespective of whose ox is gored!

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Samuel Asare

September, 2024