Akufo-Addo’s Incompetence on Galamsey Radicalized Me.
On 5th October of this year, I joined a protest in Accra. I didn't tell my family (probably not a good idea there, but I did share my location with some friends). Last year, I mentioned it in passing during a conversation with my mom about joining a similar protest (shows you how long we've been protesting nonsense in this country), and she might have taken it on a tangent and gone on a 15-minute rant on how it wasn't safe. That was why I didn't think I should. It occurred to me then that maybe the general perception of the "peace" in this country is warped. The protest itself was peaceful, though.
This protest was about Illegal mining (also known as Galamsey), which has been destroying the environment in Ghana. It has gotten worse over the last couple of years. The Ghana Water Company Limited stated in August 2024 that they could not get raw water for processing due to the effects of illegal mining on the water bodies. The President, Nana Addo Danquah Akufo-Addo, who pledged to put his presidency on the line to fight this "Galamsey" in 2017, has overseen the granting of over 100 permits to companies to mine in Ghana's forest reserves even after spending millions of dollars "fighting" it. The parliament has also been complicit in this. It is public knowledge how ministers and members of parliament own heavy machinery and plots they mine illegally using the youth in these impoverished areas. Here is Larry Madow of CNN’s expose on this menace.
On September 21st, 22nd, and 23rd, a group of youth activists known as Democracy Hub organized a protest in Accra to voice their discontent with the Ghanaian government's lackluster response to the growing issue. They wanted the government to declare a state of emergency on our water bodies, abrogate mining concessions overlapping rivers, cancel permits in protected biodiversity areas and repeal L.I. 2462. Despite giving the government over a month’s advance notice, the Ghana Police Service obtained a court injunction three days before the scheduled protest, citing "security" concerns. This move was widely perceived as an attempt by the government to discourage public dissent and suppress the protest.
The protest continued despite the police intervention, and those who gathered, including some unsuspecting bystanders — such as a man on his way home from church and a trotro mate — were arrested. The detainees were reportedly held for 48 hours without food, water, or access to legal counsel. They were spread across various police stations in Accra, which made it difficult for lawyers to locate and assist them (boldened so you can see the wickedness properly). Ultimately, they faced charges of assaulting public officers, unlawful assembly, offensive conduct, and property damage. In a rather absurd move, the judges denied bail to all the detainees, even though individuals charged with serious crimes, such as murder, are typically granted bail. The policemen let it slip that they were operating on "orders from above," which let us know the IGP, Attorney General, and the President knew exactly what was happening. You can find more information on Twitter through the hashtags #FreeTheCitizens and #StopGalamseyNow. From the sidelines, I was very impressed with the young lawyers who took on the detainees on pro-bono cases. I hope they earn the blessings of their hard work.
The Confusion
The thing is, Akufo-Addo's government seems to be embroiled in a new scandal every three business days, which has unfortunately led to the moral desensitization of the citizenry. But this particular situation pissed me off, and I'm going to explain why. The story of Benjamin stands out. Benjamin was not involved in the protests or at the protest grounds — he was simply at home. After the protesters were arrested, Benjamin voluntarily took it upon himself to organize online donations and make sure the detained individuals were fed since the Police weren't providing them with any food. The Police, however, picked him up from his home and charged him with the same offenses as the others — assault, unlawful assembly, and so on. When they were asked to provide evidence of his involvement in "assaulting public officers" or "unlawful assembly," they claimed the video had been corrupted. Then, in an incredibly ironic twist, the Police released a statement claiming they had fed the protesters when, in fact, they were referring to the food Benjamin had brought. The same Police, who couldn't afford to spend 150 cedis on medication for one of the detainees, suddenly claimed they were providing Papaye (if you live in Accra now, you know how expensive Papaye is at the moment) for over 40 people. Do you see how insane that is? And this is the same government that claims to be fighting misinformation.
The second thing was the general public's reaction to the protests. A considerable percentage of the populace thought: "Why are they blocking the roads? They're inconveniencing me." "Why couldn't there have been a peaceful march and a round-table discussion with the leaders? People would not have been arrested." There's the other group who thought, "Oh, it won't go anywhere. After two days, nothing will happen." I could not believe the stuff I was reading and hearing from that period: working-class members were out in full force defending the ruling class. For the first time, I understood what my Marxist mutuals had been preaching. You would be forgiven for thinking these people are not feeling the effects of illegal mining. But these are the same people who haven't had water for weeks and months. These are the people who cannot relocate if this country gets worse. These are citizens who do not have any connection whatsoever to the national cake. But for some reason, they just thought, "We don't need this instability. Let's all be polite while the MPs and Ministers who own companies that mine in our forests and water bodies destroy the land". And that is why I love this tweet so much:
The final confusion for me was the partisan response. "You are campaigning for the opposition party." "Wait till the elections are over before you start." There was a point in September when the former Energy minister of the sitting government and the Vice-Presidential Candidate of the New Patriotic Party, Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh, came up with the idea of a pact to be signed by all flagbearers as a way of combating illegal mining. Let me repeat: the sitting government's (who have been in power for 8 years) idea of fighting the galamsey issue in Year 8 was to get all flagbearers in the upcoming election to sign a national pact. You, who have been in power for 8 years and couldn't fix the issue, want others to sign a pact to fix it when they come into power. Is there something Im missing because this is up there with the most disrespectful ideas I've heard from this government? The Constitution did not keep them in line. You yourselves could not stop it, but the flagbearers' national pact is what will definitely stop it. And their diehard followers ate it up.
After the arrests, most lawyers expected the new (and first woman) President of the Ghana Bar Association to release a statement, at least defending the lawyers involved. That statement did not come. Instead, we learned one morning that this new President was a former member of the Greater Accra Regional NPP legal team and the wife of the MP for Essikado, former NPP Attorney General and Minister of Justice. How would someone deep into this government come out and speak against them? The President of the Ghana Journalists Association made everybody proud when, in the presence of the President, he called for more action on the Galamsey crisis.
Organized Labour planned a strike while all this was going on, gathering some support here and there. And then, out of nowhere, their member associations started caving. Ghana Medical Association said they won't join the strike because they must provide complete services. This is the same association that goes on total strikes over allowances and salary increments. They are the same group that sees firsthand the effect of the galamsey. But they thought, "Nah, we won't be a part of this; y'all be safe tho." Other sub-associations started caving, too, and then it all went to shit because of partisan divisions. Not even Organized Labour could hold an organized (no pun intended) front to hold the Akufo-Addo government accountable!
The Education
I believe I had a decent education. I didn't attend Harvard or Oxford, but through their hard work, my parents ensured I had a good education by Ghanaian standards. In an attempt to understand all the issues I've raised prior, I ended up punching a number of holes in my education, which has bothered me. Somewhere along the line, I tried to recall if we studied class consciousness in Social Studies. I kept asking myself repeatedly if the general public's reaction was the effect of our educational structure. I hit up one of the best students from my Junior High School and then another from my Senior High School, asking them if they remember us discussing these things in school. During the conversation, My friend from JHS remarked, "The educational system here is not designed -like the foreign systems- to open the world to you and allow you 'think.' It's structured to give you things they think are important and force you to memorize (indoctrination)". I agree with that. Most people's problem with the Ghanaian education system has always been why we learn irrelevant things while kids in China are inventing technological gadgets. But now, this conversation made me wonder if that was the actual problem with our system.
I remembered most of our teachers from my childhood and tried to blame them in my mind for not opening the world to us (in my friend's words). Because mind you, Kwame Nkrumah wrote "Class Struggle in Africa" in 1970. Nineteen Seventy!! It just seems like they did not want us to know these things. I hate that I'm sounding like a conspiracist right now. But I vividly remember Mr. Akubah asking us to write an essay on Gnassingbe Eyadema's life after he died. I also remember Mr Razak's numerous quizzes on countries, capitals, and their presidents. So if they wanted, they would. But then another side of me felt pity for them because these people also came up in this same educational system and couldn't share with us what they didn't have. If they had, maybe the well-educated working class would be the driving force for social justice and not be defending the political class stealing from them. I know Nkrumah is disgusted in his grave.
The Church
Away from Akufo-Addo’s incompetence, My friend NY shared a research paper around the time of the protest. Awudi, E., and Yormesor, S. E. wrote on Tensions between Economic Benefits and Promotion of Environmental Stewardship in the Illegal Mining Sector in Ghana. In this paper, they detailed how churches in the Tarkwa Nsuaem area received support from members who are illegal artisanal miners, one person revealing that he had as many as 20 pastors of his church on his payroll between 2010 and 2016. A member of the clergy also shared that some churches in the area own illegal mining sites. In fact, some of these miners are leaders in some of these churches.
This blew my mind because I lived in the Tarkwa Nsuaem area for over 5 years. It finally made sense to me why the clergy and the church couldn't speak against this galamsey issue. They were benefiting just like members of the crooked government. How do you explain that Professor Martey, the former head of the Presbyterian church, now says he doesn't have to bash the President publicly because he has his number? Otabil, one heavy critic of the previous government, now doesn't have his name in the news with criticisms for this government. The rest (including Joyce Aryee) are embroidered in controversies about the $58 million national cathedral that this same Akufo Addo government promised. ONLY, and I repeat, ONLY Catholic bishops were able to stand up and have a march against this Illegal mining issue. They were also the only group to come out and say they reject any gifts that proceed from illegal mining. It's such a shame that Protestants, Evangelicals, Charismatics, and Pentecostals whose faith expanded from them going against the government now try to play the "peace" card because they make money off something that will kill us all! Ghana Baptist Convention, I have my eyes on you. I will not even talk about how the clergy act when these Presidential and Parliamentary candidates appear in their churches. Remember Ezekiel 22:27–29? Exactly that!
I started drafting this piece in October after the 2nd protest was organized to request the freeing of the arrested citizens. The update on the citizens arrested is they got freed, albeit a number of them lost their jobs (and educational opportunities) because they were held in Police cells for over 3 weeks. The Central Regional office of the Ghana Water Company, who released the statement that sparked all this, has come out to say everything is fine. But just like that Akan adage goes, "If your mother is dead and you say she is sleeping, then edey your there." This past week, Benjamin, the volunteer who was not protesting has been re-arrested on new charges. But “everything is fine”; all this happened under a President who was and is a Human Rights Lawyer, a President who rose to fame through a protest—a President who "put his presidency" on the line to fight this menace. A President I regret voting for (stressing on this so you don't think Im doing NDC propaganda; in fact, if I were, this government deserves it). Since the Gold Coast, this is the biggest disappointment of a Head of State we’ve seen in this country. We go to vote next week, and I hope Ghanaians punish Akufo-Addo (not that he'll care), his family (whom he gave dubious contracts), and his NPP government for the evil they have perpetuated in this country.
And if you are one of those people who thinks “Obiaa wɔ ne interests” and doesn't think the interest here is accountability from the ruling class, then edey your there!!
