Convenor of the One Ghana Movement, Senyo Hosi, has warned against the growing temptation to weigh the country’s immediate economic needs against the destructive effects of illegal mining.

He insists that such a trade-off would be a grave mistake for the country's future.

Speaking on JoyNews’ PM Express on Tuesday, August 12, Mr. Hosi said, “Galamsey is an environmental crime. We must see the reality of what we are dealing with.

"There’s always the temptation to want to balance it with the economic needs of the time. We need to hold the cedi, agree, but we cannot do that by jeopardising the future of our children and their children. We are destroying the meaning of life. Water is life.”

He argued that the country cannot afford to sacrifice its water bodies, forest reserves, and human resources for short-term financial gain.

“There’s no reason why we shouldn’t mine, but there’s every reason why we must fight and bring to nought any environmental crime and illegal and irresponsible mining. Our advocacy has not been that we shouldn’t mine. We should mine, but mine responsibly and legally.

"We can’t be destroying our water bodies. We can’t be destroying our forest reserves, and now we are destroying families. We are depriving this country of great human resources that could help drive and manage, and transform policy for the good of our children’s children. This cannot be made to continue.”

Mr. Hosi linked his comments to the tragic military helicopter crash that killed two cabinet ministers and six others in the Adansi Akrofuom district of the Ashanti Region, an incident President John Mahama has promised will be fully investigated.

“We have tried everything; we’ve deployed soldiers, we’ve deployed policemen, and today we have rendered eight families, created over eight widows, all of a sudden, and if we let this pass by and not let it count, that will be a huge block on our own conscience as a people.”

The campaigner revealed that he narrowly escaped being on the ill-fated flight.

“As a matter of fact, I could have been on that flight. My colleague Daryl Bosu [Deputy Director of A Rocha Ghana] and Dr Ken Ashigbey [both members of the Coalition Against Galamsey] had to go. I was not in town. What I would typically be doing is making sure I’m there.”