The argument that the people in galamsey threatened communities must rise up in protest sounds good on the face of it, but is a misplaced one in the light of the current exigencies.
First of all, we the people have handed the state all the coercive powers to maintain for us absolute peace and safety. We pay taxes to ensure this. Our monies go to support a standing army and the police force. Now that we are confronted with real existential danger, the state appears to slink into a corner, sipping tea in stakeholder forums, while calls are being tooted for poor civilians in our communities to put their lives in harm’s way.
The last I checked, when a community in the Volta region rose up against destructive acts of salt mining in their community, a young man was gunned down like an animal with sheer impunity. What hell did the State raise in the wake of this heinous atrocity? So on what basis should poor rural folks be exhorted to rise against armed galamsey men?
That armed men guard such criminal acts of exploitation simply means the issue has transcended the civil into the realm of resource warfare; one that cannot be fought with conference room negotiations alone but the deployment of troops to establish needed order in the interim while sustainable measures are being looked at.
The best community members can do at this point is to help the security forces with the needed intelligence when they move into these communities to enforce law and order.
It’s sad that when it comes to sharing the national cake, our MPs and politicians find every reason to apportion themselves the lion share. But when it comes to national crisis, there’s always a reason to shift blame and responsibility to the people.
When will Ghana’s leaders recognize their contributory negligence that led to entrenching this canker? When will they provide enough jobs and civic education to avert such social fallouts? When will government ever, ever take responsibility for anything in this country?
The canker of galamsey is perpetuated by the elite class of politicians and chiefs. If these leaders take the log out of their own eyes, their followers, the people, will in turn begin to see clearly the danger posed by this menace.
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