BACKGROUND
Illegal miners in Ghana directly dig pits on land, in water bodies, cutdown trees and even takeover farmlands where they suspect they can find gold. According to World Bank (1995) & Bawa (2006) as cited by Banchirigah (2008), the number of people involved in illegal mining spiraled from about 30,000 to 1 million in 2006. Just like large scale mining, artisanal small-scale mining can be done legally and in a regulated manner to limit its devastating impact. With the legal artisanal small scale, miners are required to get permit to mine in only designated areas and are required to take steps to restore the land to its former state through afforestation. On the contrary, illegal small-scale miners mine just anywhere they want to and do not take any steps to reclaim the land after mining. It is worth noting that artisanal small-scale mining has provided more than a million direct jobs to persons engaged in it, in a country with a ballooning unemployment rate, and supports more than 4 million people indirectly, Dotsey and Paalo (2019).
It is estimated that more than 70 percent of small-scale miners operate illegally in Ghana, ostensibly due to corruption, bureaucracy, and other rigid government policies that makes legal artisanal mining unattractive to the teeming number of people engaged in it (Banchirigah, 2008). While the heretical view of illegal miners that the income their activity provides for millions should be the justification for them to be allowed to continue activities, this paper will later affirm why the devastation that their actions have caused to their own people’s health, water bodies, farmlands, forest cover, the entire Ghanaian populace, and the generations yet unborn, at large far outweighs the limited benefits they are currently deriving from illegal mining.
What is more, high demand for gold in countries like China buoyed activities of illegal miners in Ghana in the last 2 decades. China is reported to have used 1151.43 tons of gold out the world demand of 4345.1, making it the highest consumer of gold globally for more than 5 years running. In the last 15 years, more than 50,000 Chinese miners have migrated to Ghana mostly engaged in illegal mining together with locals (Dotsey & Paalo, 2019). The involvement of Chinese miners became a gamechanger for illegal mining in the country, as the Chinese came in with modern equipment and heavy machinery that hitherto the Ghanaian miners had no access to. This in effect hastened and dramatically increased the pollution of water bodies, destruction of farmlands and forest cover.
IMPACT OF ILLEGAL MINING ON GHANA’S ENVIROMENT
Illegal mining has caused enormous water pollution, depletion of agricultural land and vegetation cover in Ghana and it continues to pose an existential threat not just to the climate but the people of Ghana and beyond.
Mining in water poses a threat to river bodies due the frequent use of processing ore coupled dangerous chemicals used, as well as excessive water pollution caused by the constant digging that occurs in rivers. There’s abundance of evidence through research work and news reports, documentaries by journalists that have highlighted the pollution of river bodies, all largely due to the activities of illegal miners. A study in the mining town of Obuasi in the Ashanti Region, with a high number of illegal miners, revealed that nearly all major rivers and water bodies had been polluted by mining, ending fishing in Kwabrafo River where all fish species had perished (Aboka, Cobbina and Doke, 2018). Residents within the same municipality have had cause to lament about unhygienic water that come out of their boreholes which they blame on illegal mining activities.
In another mining community, Tarkwa, in the Western Region, Aboka et al. (2018), posit that the course of a major river was diverted because sand in the river had been collected and processed for gold after which the river became brown in color making it unwholesome for drinking for farmers and others who drunk from the river without any treatment. A Human Health Risk Assessment and Epidemiological Studies from Exposure to Toxic Chemicals conducted by the Centre for Environmental Impact in 2011 did a comparative analysis of residents living the Tarkwa, Prestia Huni Valley; two mining areas with high illegal mining activities and Cape Coast Metropolis which barely had any high record of illegal mining activity. The study revealed that “oral ingestion and dermal contact of water and soil/sediments samples as well as oral ingestion of cassava contaminated with elevated levels of toxic chemicals such as arsenic, cadmium, cobalt, copper, lead, manganese, mercury and zinc led to elevated levels in whole blood and blood serum of residents in the Tarkwa-Nsuaem Municipality and Prestea Huni Valley District as compared to residents in the Cape Coast Metropolis” (Aboka et al. 2018, P. 31).
According to Ampomah (2017) as cited by Yeleliere et al. (2018), more than 60 percent of Ghana’s water bodies have been polluted with majority of them in a sorry state, due to illegal mining and other human activities. Rivers, streams, and other waters sources are at risk of running dry and officials in charge of water treatment in the country have been compelled to shut water treatment plants on several occasion due to unrestrained pollution (Yeleliere et al. 2018). This is further corroborated by Mantey (2017), who contends that nearly all major river bodies like River Pra, River Ankobra have been polluted due to illegal mining, forcing Ghana’s Water Company to construct boreholes for some communities due to their inability to treat water heavily polluted from these sources.
Photo Credit: Nasa Earth Observatory
In fact, in 2018, Ghana’s Lands and Natural Resources Minister, John Peter Amewu warned that research had shown that Ghana could be importing water by 2030, if the country failed to halt the rampant pollution of water bodies and other anthropogenic activities in the country, (Ghana Web, 2018).
That notwithstanding, activities of illegal small-scale miners have degraded tracts of natural forests and farmlands. Due to the influence these illegal miners wield in their communities, many of them have been able to cower farmers, mostly cocoa farmers to give up their cocoa farms for illegal mining. More than 5,000 hectares of cocoa farms is reported to have been destroyed in Western North region alone by illegal miners according to the Agronomy and Quality Control Department of the Ghana Cocoa Board (Ghana Web, 2021). There are reports of similar destruction of cocoa farms in other regions in the country. Ghana is the second largest producer of cocoa globally. In effect, the menace of illegal mining does not only threaten the farmlands and livelihood of farmers but one of the country’s major exports.
MEASURES TAKEN TO CLAMPDOWN ILLEGAL MINING
Several measures have been taken by the government of Ghana to end illegal mining due to its destructive impact on the environment, but all these efforts have been largely unsuccessful.
To start with, the use of brute force with a joint taskforce of both the police and military has become the most popular approach that the Ghanaian government has used in trying to combat the unalloyed destruction of the nation’s environment. At the peak of the destructive activities of illegal miners in Ghana in the last 2 decades, two successive governments launched an anti-illegal mining taskforce that was made up of the military and the police service. The mission of this taskforce appeared simple and straightforward; arrest all persons engaged in illegal and prosecute them. Though this proved to be successful for a moment, it was short-lived. Some illegal miners armed themselves and, in some instances, resisted arrest and faced-off against the taskforce, others were able to bribe their way out of arrest, while only handful of them were successfully prosecuted, with majority of foreigners mainly Chinese nationals repatriated. One thing has remained clear in the last decade in Ghana’s fight against illegal mining, after every serious crackdown, the illegal miners appear emboldened months down the line and reassert themselves strongly back in business.
In addition to that the government’s move to use a legal regime to regulate small scale mining has failed. Less than 30 percent of small-scale miners go through the right legal and environmental requirements to carryout mining in Ghana largely due to what many of the illegal miners find as a cumbersome process. Foreigners are also not legally permitted to engage small scale in the country and yet that has not stopped the influx thousands of illegal miners mainly from China in the mining sector.
Photo Credit: Jordie P/Global Partnership for Sustainable Development Data
Furthermore, the lack of coordination between actors in the environmental sector has been highlighted as a major stumbling block in Ghana’s fight against illegal mining. The mining sector in Ghana is regulated by the Minerals Commission under the Ministry for Land and Natural Resources. However, like in many African societies, Chiefs and traditional rulers wield a significant influence in their communities. In fact, Ghana’s laws vests custodianship of all customary land in the hands of chiefs. Dotsey and Paalo (2019), contend this inconsistency in Ghanaian law helps illegal miners to sidestep government institutions and seek legitimacy from the traditional rulers to carry out their activities. It is equally important to note that in spite of their influence and power, several efforts by the state to eradicate illegal mining and protect the country’s environment have not prioritized the role of traditional rulers in dealing with the menace.
RECOMMENDATIONS:
It is imperative to note that no single approach can comprehensively deal with the illegal mining menace. However, the successful implementation of multipronged policies can go a long way to help end illicit mining in Ghana.
To begin with, the government of Ghana should consider a less confrontational approach in dealing with the illegal mining menace. With the high involvement of traditional rulers who are considered as the custodians of the land, the government can adopt a more pragmatic approach to highlight the negative impact the activities of these illegal miners are having on their own communities. The state can use a creative communication approach to couch targeted messages around the prevalence of diseases in areas with high illegal mining activities contrasting it with other communities that do not have this disease burden and illegal mining. The illegal miners and people that support them may not appreciate the broader impact of the effects of their activities on the environment, but they can certainly relate to issues around people within their communities’ suffering diseases linked to drinking polluted water as well as livelihoods of cocoa farmers that they are destroying. Consistent sensitization programs should be designed using various platforms but not limited to traditional and new media to raise awareness about the destructive impacts of illegal mining at the community level.
Also, the government should collaborate with civil society organizations (CSOs) to come up with a comprehensive plan to create an alternative source of livelihood for the over a million people engaged in illegal small-scale mining. All the measures that successive governments have tried in the past to end this scourge which to a large extent have been unsuccessful, goes a long way to suggest that no amount of excessive force can turn the people away from this destructive path if they are not offered a viable alternative option for survival. Since many of the people engaged in illegal mining popularly known as ‘galamsey” in Ghana are not formally educated, the government of Ghana as a matter of urgency together with other stakeholders like non-profits, CSOs can hold a stakeholder consultative meeting to come up with ideas and programs that can be implemented to provide jobs to the illegal miners. This group will equally be tasked with finding funding opportunities by engaging international development partners like the World Bank and local development partners like Agricultural Development Bank (ADB), Ghana EXIM Bank and other private sector partners. The state in conjunction with the private sector, Civil Society Organizations can offer a robust skills training program to the teeming young people involved in illegal mining. There are Civil Society Organizations who are already spearheading the protection of Ghana’s forest reserves like A Rocha Ghana, EcoCare Ghana, Rainforest Alliance, Tropenbos Ghana. The government can partner with these environmental justice organizations and other youth developments CSOs like the Rural Development and Youth Association, Youth Advocates Ghana, Youth Empowerment Synergy, Ghana Employers Association, Adamfo Ghana and many others to lead the conversation on finding a viable source of livelihood for the illegal miners. These groups are best placed to engage with the government because the two set of organizations listed above are already working in in the area environmental conservation and youth employment.
For instance, one key area that can be considered is the labor-intensive sector since the country is yearning to industrialize. A needs assessment should be done to identify industries that can function effectively in the areas with high illegal mining activities. A pilot program can be carried out for instance in one of the key areas with high level of illegal miming to establish an agro-processing or textile industries in an area that it may be easier to produce the raw materials needed for such factories to operate effectively. This will make it easier to identify the requisite training that will be offered to the targeted individuals. This will directly create jobs for the illegal miners and other unemployed youth in the targeted area through raw material production coupled with direct jobs that will be created through the establishment of the factory. Depending on the success of this program over, it can be replicated in other areas with high illegal mining activities after 3 years.
Additionally, many of these young people can be offered skills training in building and construction to work on the numerous infrastructure projects like roads, hospitals, schools, potable water that the country intends to put in place in the next few decades to provide social amenities for several parts the country that desperately require them. This will offer them employable skills that will provide them with an alternative source of income once they quit illegal mining. Some of the illegal miners can also be recruited as illegal mining watchdog partners to report on any illegal mining activity that may occur in their communities for a reward. These measures should not be in anyway misconstrued as an incentive for illegal miners for breaking the law, but a robust measure to help deal with the illegal mining scourge since the most common approach that have been used by successive governments have all proved unsuccessful.
Moreover, the intermittent periods that the move to clamp down illegal mining have been sustained for some months, there have been widespread pictorial evidence of the polluted waters returning to their former state. Consequently, though steps can be taken to use several water restoration methods to help make the polluted waters wholesome, the principal aim of the government and people should be to halt the activities of illegal miners and embark on massive reclamation and afforestation drive to restore the vast swaths of area that have been destroyed through unbated illegal mining activities. This may require the presence of enforcement agencies like the combined team of police and military in addition to the deployment of drones that will monitor many other illegal mining sites that the state may not be able to afford to station security personnel there constantly. Beyond this, the government can also invest heavily in geospatial technology to monitor illicit mining across the country. A partnership with the Center for Remote Sensing and Geographic Information Services, Ghana’s Environmental Protection Agency, A Rocha Ghana and the Forestry Commission took advantage of a freely accessible software and satellite imagery to develop a remote sensing system to track illegal mining activities in areas where the practice is rampant. The success of this monitoring system is heavily dependent on accessing timely information on illegal mining operations. This system has proven to be effective in monitoring illicit mining in some areas in Ghana and Peru which have high illegal mining activities (Novoa & Mensah, 2020).
There must be zero tolerance for corruption if the fight against illegal mining in Ghana can be sustained and won. Instances of corrupt acts cited among leading figures tasked with fighting illegal has been one the major setbacks in clamping down the menace as has been earlier highlighted. The government must send a strong message to the nation that it will not countenance any corrupt acts irrespective of who is involved to show that it is committed to the fight against illegal mining. All allegations of graft against officials leading the fight must be thoroughly investigated and any culprit must face the full rigor of the law.
That notwithstanding, the state must enforce laws on illegal mining to the letter. It is unlawful for foreigners to engage in any form of small-scale mining and yet many foreign nationals continue to engage in illegal mining with impunity in the country. In 2013, nearly 5,000 illegal Chinese miners were deported from the country (Oxford Business Group, 2016). Foreigners who engage in illegal mining must not just be deported to their countries but should be prosecuted in line with Ghana’s laws to serve as a deterrent to many others who keep violating the laws on mining in the country. Ghanaians who collaborate with foreigners to engage in the act must equally be made face stiffer punishment. Since majority of foreigners engaged in the menace are Chinese nationals, the government of Ghana must also continue to dialogue with the Chinese government at the diplomatic level to enact laws that will deter their people from embarking on the journey to Ghana to engage in illicit mining.
Last but not least, successive governments must show the needed political will to fight illegal mining irrespective of the political consequences it may have on their electoral fortunes. There should be a national plan for the fight against illegal mining to ensure continuity in battling this menace. This will also prevent successive governments from abandoning policies being implemented by a previous administration in fighting illegal mining. The government depending on whoever is in office appear to soften their stance on fighting the menace during election year for fear of losing support from the over a million people engaged in illegal mining. The two dominant parties in the country, the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and the National Democratic Congress (NDC) must both commit to fight illegal mining head on to ensure continuity in the fight irrespective who is in power. The electorate, private citizens, environmental conservation groups and civil society can petition parliament to consider enacting a law that will bind successive governments to deal with the fight against illegal mining as national security threat until the battle is won. This will send a strong signal to the illegal miners that they cannot continue to hold any of the political parties to ransom to enable them to carry on with their unlawful activities. This must be followed by proper regulation legal artisanal small scale mining sector. State institutions tasked with regulating the sector must ensure that any individual or group that intends to engage in small scale mining goes through the stipulated legal requirements while ensuring that mining group take actives steps to reclaim the land or concession after mining.
References
Aboka E., Cobbina, J., Doke, D. (2018). Review of Environmental and Health Impacts of Mining in Ghana. Journal of Health & Pollution, 8(17) Pg. 43-52. Doi: 10.5696/2156-9614-8.17.43
Banchirigah , S. (2008). Challenges with eradicating illegal mining in Ghana: A perspective from the grassroots.Resources Policy, 13(1), 29-38. Doi: //doi.org/10.1016/j.resourpol.2007.11.001
Boafo, J. Dotsey, S. Paalo, S. (2019). Ghana’s traditional and state powers must collaborate to halt illegal mining. The Conversation. Retrieved from https://theconversation.com/ghanas-traditional-and-state-powers-must-collaborate-to-halt-illegal-mining-126072 on September 29, 2021
Classfmonline (2021). Illegal Mining: Ghana loses 5,000 hectares of cocoa farms in key regions. Retrieved from https://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/business/Illegal-Mining-Ghana-loses-5-000-hectares-of-cocoa-farms-in-key-region-1239802 on October 1, 2021
ESTY, D. C. (Ed.). (2019). A Better Planet: Forty Big Ideas for a Sustainable Future. Yale University Press. https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctvqc6gcq
Ghana Web (2018). Ghana May Import Water from 2030. Ghana Web. Retrieved from https://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/NewsArchive/Ghana-may-import-water-from-2030-Lands-Minister-619288
Koomson, K. (2019). Illegal Mining in Ghana- fighting an ongoing battle. Mining Review Africa. Retrieved from https://www.miningreview.com/gold/illegal-mining-in-ghana-fighting-an-ongoing-battle-says-researcher/
Mensah, E.O, Darku, E.D (2021). The impact of illegal mining on public health: A case study in Kenyasi, the Ahafo region of Ghana. Retrieved from https://techniumscience.com/index.php/socialsciences/article/view/4503
Nwokolo, M.N (2019). Ghana’s battle with illegal artisanal and small-scale mining. LSE. Retrieved from https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/africaatlse/2019/07/15/ghana-illegal-asm-artisanal-mining/ on September 30, 2021
Novoa, S. & Mensah,F. (2020). Reducing illegal gold mining in the tropical forests of Ghana and Peru: A forthcoming collaboration across the Atlantic. Retrieved from https://servirglobal.net/Global/Articles/Article/2725/reducing-illegal-gold-mining-in-the-tropical-forests-of-ghana-and-peru-a-forthc
Obiri-Yeboah, A, Nyantakyi, K.A, Mohammed, Yeboah, I.S, Domfeh, Abokyi, E. (2021). Assessing the potential health effect of lead and mercury and the impact of illegal mining activities in the Bonsa river, Tarkwa Nsuaem, Ghana. Scientific African13. Doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sciaf.2021.e00876
Oxford Business Group. (2016). New regulations in Ghana aid fight against illegal mining. Retrieved from https://oxfordbusinessgroup.com/analysis/keep-it-simple-new-regulations-are-set-aid-fight-against-illegal-mining
Yelelirere, E. Cobbina. S. J, Duwiejuah. A.B (2018). Review of Ghana’s water resources: the quality and management with particular focus on freshwater resources. Appl Water Sci 8 (93). Doi: doi.org/10.1007/s13201-018-0736-4
No comments:
Post a Comment