The Acting Director of Institute for Environment and Sanitation Studies (IESS) at the University of Ghana, Prof. Benedicta Yayra Fosu-Mensah, is saying that Ghana is on the verge of extinction considering the devastating levels of destruction illegal mining is causing on the environment.
She says the effect of illegal mining, irrespective of where it is done, is an existential threat to the entire nation, advising that those that think the situation is far from them would only be deceiving themselves.
Speaking on the maiden edition of Agenda on TV3 Monday, September 30, 2024, the UG Professor said that the effect of illegal mining puts Ghana on a mission of genocide.
“When you look at the level of destruction, it looks like we are all at the verge of perishing. And these levels of destruction as far as illegal mining is concerned is an existential threat.
“It looks like Ghana we are on a mission of genocide. People feel they are very far from galamsey sites but galamsey and the effects of galamsey is right on your dinning table. We are all just heading towards extinction and it’s so sad listening to the young man and listening to what is going on in the country,” she stated after watching a recorded video where someone disclosed how the Committees that were formed to combat galamsey were informing people of their operations in order to evade arrest.
Prof. Fosu-Mensah continued that the fact that those who are supposedly fighting the menace are deeply involved in the practice makes it more dangerous, asserting that the environmental cost of illegal mining is higher than the economic benefits.
“The fact that the people who are supposed to be leading the fight are being alleged to be neck deep and it looks like sometimes we seem not to know the environmental cost as far as illegal mining is concerned. But the environmental cost sometimes is far more the economic cost,” she stated.
Illegal mining activities have skyrocketed for the past few years with Ghana’s water bodies being polluted to unprecedented levels whilst forest reserves are being destroyed.
This is despite President Akufo-Addo pledging to put his presidency on the line to end the menace.
The development triggered a pro political group, Democracy Hub, to go on a three-day demonstration between Saturday, September 21, to Monday, September 23, 2024, which resulted in a clash between them and the police.
53 persons were arrested in the process and detained, with two of them being kept over 48 hours before being processed for court. The court also remanded the suspects for two weeks to reappear in court, a situation many have described as a breach of their constitutional rights.
Meanwhile, the suspects have been charged for several crimes including unlawful assembly and stealing.
Democracy Hub protestors ‘are political prisoners, they have not committed any offence’ – Kpebu
