A Private legal practitioner, Osman Alhassan, has asked President Akufo-Addo to heed the calls of Organized Labour and declare a state of emergency on the prevailing illegal mining menace.
This comes as Organized Labour, a workforce comprising of over seven hundred thousand Ghanaians, threatened to embark on a nationwide, indefinite strike from October 10 over the devasting effects of illegal mining, also called galamsey, on Ghana’s environment and water bodies
In an interview with 3FM’s Beatrice Adu on the Midday News, Lawyer Alhassan explained that the laws regarding illegal mining are in place to preserve the country’s water bodies and prevent the endangering lives of the citizenry.
According to him, the state is the first enforcer of these laws, and security personnel can be deployed to ensure compliance.
“This problem can actually be dealt swiftly without the need of any declaration of the state of emergency if the President and the executives so wish to deal with it because everything will end up in the deployment of security personnel to enforce whatever steps or laws that have been passed,” he said on October 2.
While the lawyer believes that the galamsey issue can be tackled through law enforcement, he suggested that the President should consider declaring a state of emergency in areas most affected by the illegal activities.
“He should go ahead and declare the state of emergency in the places where the danger is occurring.” he advised.
Background and Impact of Galamsey
Organised Labour on Tuesday October 1, announced a strike starting October 10, 2024 to put pressure on government to take action to deal with the illegal mining menace.
Hundreds of acres of farmlands have been destroyed by activities of illegal miners, with most rivers and water bodies polluted rendering them unusable.
Over sixty percent of water bodies per research by Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) have been contaminated.
The CSIR also revealed that Ghana is recording over twenty-four thousand cancer cases each year due to illegal mining.
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By Christabel Success Treve (NSS)
