Galamsey: Guards will soon refuse to enter the forests for fear of their lives – Sarpong Asiedu

A Research Fellow at the Ghana Centre for Democratic Development (CDD-Ghana) Dr Kwame Sarpong Asiedu has predicted that soon the forest guards will refuse to enter these forests for fear of their lives.

The government has introduced the River Guard initiative as part of the strategies to protect Ghana’s rivers from illegal mining.

The Minister for Lands and Natural Resources, Mr Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah, said the initiative is designed to support the Navy and other enforcement bodies by using local intelligence and presence.

The guards are expected to serve as early responders and information gatherers, not law enforcers.

So far, over 400 recruits are undergoing training, with funding secured for 1,000 in total. The government plans to scale up the number to 2,000, with deployments prioritised in areas heavily impacted by galamsey including parts of the Ashanti, Eastern, Western, and Northern regions.

Already, the Lands Minister has said that the other forest guards and rapid response team from the Foretsay Commission were unable to tackle these illegal miners because they did not have the sophisticated weapons that the galamsyers possessed.

Dr Kwame Asiedu, while calling on President John Dramani Mahama to declare a state of emergency due to illegal small-scale mining noted that these guards may fear for their lives because they have families too.

He was reacting to reports that armed illegal miners ambushed and attacked members of the Forestry Commission’s Rapid Response team wounding one critically.

A member of the Forestry Commission’s Rapid Response team was reported to be struggling for his life after being slashed in the knee with a machete by armed illegal miners in the Offin Shelter belt Forest reserve.

In a post on his Facebook page, Dr Asiedu said “At this stage we are at war and we must understand it. Anyone who says we should treat these guys with kids gloves is part of the problem.

“Try this in China and see what the China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) will do. There will not be a single thug brought out of the forest alive. Soon the Forest guards will refuse to enter these forests for the fear of their lives.

“They have families too. This is why a State of Emergency must be declared and these social misfits treated like the hardcore criminals they are.”

Similarly, Convener of the Media Coalition Against Galamsey Ken Ashigbey insisted that a state of emergency should be declared in the areas affected by illegal small-scale mining as part of the fight.

He believed that the state of emergency will provide more impetus to stakeholders charged with the responsibility to nip the practice in the bud.

“We still demand the imposition of a state of emergency in the illegal mining fight. We also need to put in place a system where we can track all active excavators in Ghana,” he said on the KeyPoints on TV3 Saturday, March 22.

Ken Ashigbey further said that efforts should be made to unearth the real owners of the excavators brought into the country for illegal mining.

He suggested that the chassis numbers of the excavators can be used to track the real owners.

“If you take the chassis number you will be able to trace it to who owns it,” he said.

He added, “we should look for the sources of the funding for the excavators, they should trace the money…we are waiting for the Minister to publish the list of those who imported into the country then we know who are bringing it.”

The Executive Director of A Rocha, Daryl Bossu also said that a lot of the country’s forest reserves are currently under siege by illegal small-scale miners.

READ ALSO: Galamsey: A lot of our forest reserves are currently under siege – Daryl Bosu

He says the number of forests captured by the illegal miners is more than the 44 put out by the Minister of Lands and Natural Resources.

“A lot of the forests are experiencing illegal mining, eating away the forests. We have more than 44 forest reserves affected by illegal mining,” he said on the KeyPoints on TV3 Saturday, March 22.

He further noted that the present government inherited the situation. “And I sympathise with them because it gives them a lot of work to do,” he said.

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