Operation Vanguard needs our support

The problem of illegal small-scale mining has become a very serious national issue over the last decade or so.

In times past, our forebears gathered small quantities of precious minerals, mostly gold and diamond, and sold them, leading to the coining of the word ‘galamsey’ (gather them and sell).

The practice got to a head when heavy earth moving equipment was introduced, leading to the over exploitation of the land and water bodies and pollution of the entire environment without any reclamation of degraded lands.

In fact, the situation became so dire that it led to the drying up of many of the water sources for the production of potable water and the destruction of large tracts of farmlands.

Although past governments had made the effort to stop the practice, not much appeared to have been achieved.

This year, however, has seen the intensification of efforts to ensure that the practice is curtailed.

The media, having been involved in various ways in the fight, took their efforts a notch higher when they officially launched a coalition in early April to ensure the protection of our water bodies and the environment.

For its part, the government has shown greater commitment to the fight and taken concrete steps, including putting a freeze on all small-scale mining and setting up a military/police task force, codenamed Operation Vanguard, to prevent those involved in galamsey from continuing their activities, despite the ban.

Since then, both the media coalition and the government have not turned back in their resolve to ensure an end to the practice, with the coalition now engaged in Town Hall meetings across the country.

Many, including the Daily Graphic, applauded the setting up of Operation Vanguard and we still believe in the capacity of the task force to help bring an end to the disturbing issue of galamsey.

So far, the task force has arrested over 100 people and confiscated some equipment, with one death recorded from its activities. There have also been reports about the burning of some equipment by the task force, an incident that has been rightly condemned by the public.

We urge the command of Operation Vanguard to ensure that the task force operates within the law and also gets the communities in which it is operating to appreciate that the work is and the fact that it will continue to be in their interest.

The Daily Graphic has noted with concern attempts by some people to drag the name and activities of the task force into the mud to thwart the efforts being made to stop galamsey. The recent social media report about the alleged killing of four miners by the task force at Akyem Kwabeng is a case in point.

The command of the task force has denied that the death of the four was the result of its activities. We urge the police to speed up their investigations into the matter and make their findings public.

Operation Vanguard needs to succeed and so it must have a clean sheet to operate. Any attempt to deliberately tarnish its name will be like giving a dog a bad name in order to hang it.

After all, the task force is working under the law in the interest of the good people of Ghana, for which reason it needs our support.