I DON’T own guns and money. I don’t have political power or visibility among the nouveau riche and neither do I have the voice to shout down the rich and powerful. However, what I have is my old fountain pen with a small bottle of ink. I do sincerely believe the pen is mightier than sword. That is why I don’t allow my grandchildren to play with them.
My fight against galamsey continues unabated and I will not falter, I will not waver, I will not relent and I will not rest until the battle is won. I have nothing to support the President’s war against this menace but my pen and I will use it to take operators of galamsey to the cleaners no matter whose ox is gored. I am aware of the risk involved but cowards die many times before they die as Julius Caesars said. I am on a warpath so criminals who are bent on going wayward should keep their distance and watch out for a winged angry angel roaming in the firmament, looking for galamseyers to devour. It’s a winnable war and I will not run to the wall. The sages say it takes one man to make a difference.
The gospel and naked truth is that when the NDC was in power, some dye-in-the-wool members of the party were engaged in galamsey and in fact, are still engaged in the trade. It is also an undeniable fact that some hard core members of the NPP were also engaged in galamsey and still are engaged in it. Call it two of a kind and you will not be far from right. The NDC in power could not marshal the willpower to call their members to order and similarly the NPP in power are also shying away from calling their members who are engaged in galamsey to order. So, what do we do? “Do we go forward or backwards?. Osagyefo say forward ever, backward never, so the road is our front” (Apology to the late DC Kwame Kwakye of Koforidua).
The fight against galamsey borders on human behaviour. When the NDC declared war on galamsey, the military was deployed to falamsey operation areas to bring an end to the menace. The Minister in charge of Lands and Natural Resources then later came to tell us that he had failed. The activities of galamsey continued till the NPP came to power. The battle became hotter when Nana Akufo Addo held the reins of power. In his case, he boldly put his Presidency on the line to fight galamsey and nearly lost his Presidency when Kwaku Boahen, the Deputy Communication Director of the NDC, accompanied by top echelons of the party, shamelessly campaigned in the galamsey operating areas and promised them that unlike Nana Addo, who was ruthlessly fighting galamsey, a John Mahama-led administration will open the floodgates for them to operate. Wherever the team went with this diabolical message, the galamseyers shouted “Mahama Afa!” (Mahama has won).
President Akufo-Addo has worked beyond exhaustion to bring an end to this menace but to no avail. When he was briefed that some chiefs and some of his MMDCEs were complacent in galamsey, he did not rest. He went to Kumasi to meet with the National House of Chiefs to appeal to their consciences to help fight the canker. He also met all MMDCEs to warn them to sit up else he will take drastic measures against them. The following day, after his meeting with these groups of persons, the NDC held a press conference to bastardise the attempt made by the President. They forgot their immediate past when they were in power and their attempt to curb the canker which did not succeed. Hypocrites! There is a vast difference between the one who loses a fight and resigns himself to fate and the one who refuses to surrender even though he has lost a fight. The latter possess a fighting spirit. The former is a coward.
I have a piece of advice for the President. Enough of the warnings, consultations and the use of kids’ gloves. By now, the President has in his possession, the names of MMDCEs and other government appointees as well as NDC gurus who are engaged in galamsey. HE SHOULD FIRE all these MMDCEs and GOVERNMENT APPOINTEES, NAME AND SHAME NDC gurus who are involved and see the difference. The President has nothing to lose but legacy to bequeath if he takes such actions. He should put the pedal on the metal. That is to say, he should work quickly on the issue. After all, no one can say he has not given enough warnings for people to respect the law. Only he, has the power to hire and fire, and so, he should FIRE NOW, damn the consequences.
Watching the Joy TV documentary on galamsey and its adverse effect on our forests and rivers, I was saddened. The River Tano, which takes its source from Traa in the Techiman South Constituency of the Bono East Region, travels all the way to Tanoso near Sunyani in the Bono Region, crystal clear and unpolluted. The clean water of Tano meanders its way through forests, plane fields and valleys to Samreboi in the Western Region on its way to join the Atlantic Ocean where Nana Bosom Po dwells. From what we are being told by the Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, as well as the Minerals Commission, Antwi Boasiako, alias Chairman Wontumi, the Ashanti Regional Chairman of the NPP, has no permit to enter the forest at Samreboi and mine gold, not to talk of mining in River Tano. He himself has told us that even though he has applied for a concession to mine gold in the forest, his application has not been granted yet. Interestingly, he says he went to the forest to protect the place from illegal miners. Who gave him that assignment? Do we protect concessions in the forest with excavators and bulldozers? What a pathological liar. Sadly, the documentary showed us large acreage of land that his Akonta Mining Company was mining for gold inside the forest and the damage done to the great Tano River. Wontumi has not learnt a lesson from the disgraceful hooting he was subjected to during the NPP National Delegates Congress recently. The guy is a nuisance value. Samuel Abu Jinapor, the Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, in his letter, said Akonta Mining Company was engaged in illegal mining. Yes, we hear. But what do you do to illegality which is defined as ‘contrary to or forbidden by law’, Lawyer Jinapor? Stand up and answer now before I refill my trenchant fountain pen! You think say we dey joke?
What is the NPP, as a party, doing to whip this Wontumi guy who continues to bring the name of the party into disrepute, in line, as far as his involvement in galamsey is concerned? Is he untouchable? Is he the only person who sponsors the party as being bandied around by his gullible supporters? Is he the richest person in the NPP? Should we allow an individual to tarnish the image of the party? When the going was tough and the tough kept going, where was Wontumi? Can his galamsey money resurrect those who died fighting for the party? Did we come this far to suffer? The guy, and some of the MMDCEs and government appointees are using money and political power to destroy what the President is building and as such the President should peel their honour and political power from their riches. Heads must roll. Period! The NPP National Chairman, Stephen Ntim and the General Secretary, Justin Frimpong Kodua, should wake up. The delegates did not vote for them to stay indifferent to what is bringing the party down. As a lawyer, Mr. Kodua knows the Maxims of Equity. One of the Maxims says ‘He who goes to Equity should go with clean hands.’ How do you fight galamsey when your own people are involved in the mess? Questions, questions, one million questions and no answer!
BY Eric Bawah
ericbawa2022@gmail.com