Illegal mining – How Ghana’s forgotten scourge a nation for gold
The ecological damage is huge, but even more costly is the regular loss of lives associated with the risky venture. But some of those engaged in illegal mining believe they have been forgotten by the state – abandoned to fend for themselves.
And then, the entrance of the Chinese who connive with locals has significantly increased the scale of the problem in the last two years. The clampdown on operators by a government task force, has also made the venture even more dangerous than ever.
Meanwhile, statistics about how many Ghanaians have died while engaging in galamsey is scarce but some estimates put the figures at between 200 and 400 in the last four years.
The practice which involves panning soil in order to extract hidden gold requires water; plenty of water. Therefore, galamsey is necessarily done near rivers and streams which are the major sources of water and livelihood for most rural communities where the activities take place.
“When they forget you, you don’t forget yourself. Those who claim to be our leaders just sit in Accra and talk and share money, no jobs for the youth. At least if they don’t provide for us, we must work hard to provide for ourselves,” he said.
Earlier in December 2013, during a visit to Nhyieso, a community near Obuasi in the southern part of the Ashanti region, a 28-year-old man, Gyan, himself a galamsey operator, blames government for the rise of the trade in the region.
“When they forget you, you don’t forget yourself. Those who claim to be our leaders just sit in Accra and talk and share money, no jobs for the youth. At least if they don’t provide for us, we must work hard to provide for ourselves,” he said.
“This is four years after I graduated from the university, and no job. It’s not just me, many of my friends in this community are like that,” he added sounding apparently disgusted with what he calls the ‘politricks’ of those in power.
Some blame their operations on greed; others say they are unpatriotic and greedy.
However, some analysts say galamsey has blossomed in the last few years because of corruption and governments’ failure to live up to their responsibilities. Rural poverty is widespread but generally ignored by politicians who often spend more time in Accra, the nation’s capital than in the local communities where they have been are elected or appointed to govern.
Galamsey, is the local parlance for illegal gold mining, a practice that is as old as the Gold Coast, Ghana’s name before independence in 1957. The illegal gold miners themselves are also known as Galamsey. The name is the corruption of these words; ‘gather and sell’. It is an all too familiar word in Ghana, Africa’s second leading gold miner and the 10th in the world.
“We’ve lost our farmlands and drinking water. So many in our communities are left with nothing to do other than galamsey,” Ama Donkor, a 32-year-old graduate of the University of Ghana said.
The rising price of gold in the last few years has driven the operations to an all time high. The surge in price drove many foreigners, particularly Chinese, scavenging for gold in Ghanaian villages. This rush has meant intense devastation of the rich bio-‐diversities in these villages.
We’ve lost our farmlands and drinking water. So many in our communities are left with nothing to do other than galamsey,” Ama Donkor, a 32-year-old graduate of the University of Ghana said.
Locals accuse the government and the gold mining companies of exploiting them and leaving them impoverished. It’s estimated that there are between 15,000 and 20,000 galamsey operators in Ghana’s Western Region alone. In some villages, it’s a free for all activity engaged in by virtually every inhabitant. What is different is the degree of involvement.
“The question here is how often do you galamsey not whether you do. Everybody does it or has done it at some point,” said Kojo Bamford, an auto mechanic in Obuasi, a community in Ghana’s Ashanti Region.
“Of late we have seen a tightening of the visa regime at the Chinese embassy for Ghanaians. We don’t know whether this is a manifestation of our actions to deport illegal Chinese gold miners,” said Inusah Fuseini, Ghana’s Minister for Lands and Mines.
In response to the involvement of foreigners in the illegal activity and following public complaints, thousands of Chinese nationals engaged in galamsey have been deported from Ghana. Immigration authorities say more than 4,500 Chinese nationals have been repatriated after a series of swoops on illegal gold mines.
So far this year 1,577 illegal foreign miners have been arrested by the Ghanaian authorities, and more than 3,800 have submitted to deportation voluntarily, according to the Ministry for Lands and Mines. Immigration authorities said that in June and July alone 4,592 Chinese illegal immigrants were deported.
The situation is believed to be causing strains in Ghana – China relations.
“Of late we have seen a tightening of the visa regime at the Chinese embassy for Ghanaians. We don’t know whether this is a manifestation of our actions to deport illegal Chinese gold miners,” said Inusah Fuseini, Ghana’s Minister for Lands and Mines.
“All these Chinese were involved in illegal employment in Ghana, the majority in illegal gold mining,” said Michael Amoako-Atta, a spokesman for Ghana’s Immigration Service. “This is only the first phase of our operations, we will be continuing in due course.”
The situation has become deadly, even for Ghana’s military involved in curbing the situation. A soldier who is a member of the National Security Taskforce, an agency set up by the government to stop galamsey, recounted an encounter where one of the Chinese galamsey operators opened fire on his team. “It’s a very risky operation and under such circumstances, we return fire for fire,” he said.
According to 38-year-old Kwame Nii, an indigene of Obuasi, “the Chinese collaborators not only participate in the illegal mining operations, they also earn good fortune selling the mining pits with the machinery and small arms.”
In return, they are rewarded with ounces of gold, he said.
“This illegal gold-mining is compromising the environment. It is compromising the security of this country. It has a lot of social consequences and the government is losing a lot of resource revenue,” said Fuseini. “The Chinese were just plundering the resources,” he added.
The heavy pollution of water bodies is making it too expensive for the Ghana Water Company Limited to operate water treatment plants in many mining communities. The company requires a substantial amount of money to dredge and clean the pollution; money, the administrators say the government doesn’t have.
In Obuasi, the corporation said it has stopped water treatment activities because of the high cost involved, leaving the community without access to potable water. “If you see the pollution, you will not encourage illegal mining. Some farmers now depend on sachet water because the rivers are all polluted,” an official of the company said.
At a typical galamsey site, able-bodied youth mostly men turn up muddy soil while the women collect water for the washing of retrieved gold. Tasks are distributed according to gender. In addition to those doing the real mining, there are, in some cases, armed young men who provide security while the mining is done.
Traditional rulers are cited as the prime collaborators for releasing land to foreigners, even for a pittance.
In the Upper Denkyira East District in the Central Region, there are more than 2000 acres of degraded lands waiting for reclamation, while the course of the River Offin has been blocked by the galamsey operators and the national security task force looks helpless in dealing with the situation.
In the last two years, there have been pockets of clashes between local galamsey groups and their Chinese counterparts. Two local miners in Obuasi were recently shot dead by rival Chinese illegal miners last May. Regional police chief, Kofi Boakye said “some operators associate themselves with narcotic drugs and the proliferation of small arms such as locally made and imported pistols and robbery cases are prevalent at their camp sites.”
The list of local collaborators is very tall and includes powerful and influential people in society, such as traditional rulers, politicians, security officials and opinion leaders. Traditional rulers are cited as the prime collaborators for releasing land to foreigners for very little money.
Traditional rulers are cited as the prime collaborators for releasing land to foreigners, even for a pittance. Sometimes, the traditional leaders allegedly collect reclamation bonds or what is locally termed ‘cover money’ from the foreigners, suggesting that they (foreigners) have the liberty to leave after destroying the environment and that they (chiefs) will do the reclamation.
But the ‘cover money’ always remains covered in the pockets’ of the chiefs, leaving the land degraded and depriving the communities of its benefits,” writes the Daily Graphic newspaper in an editorial.
Kobi Dutse, an army Major, believes the search for a permanent solution may be elusive for now, given the role of local collaborators who encourage the foreigners to continue doing the illegal business.
“It’s difficult to catch a thief when the man who brought him in is the one he is coming to steal from. The villagers are the ones that bring in the foreigners,” he said.
By Amy Blessing