Environmental issues are increasingly recognised as human rights issues because a healthy environment is essential for people to enjoy their fundamental rights to life, health, and a dignified existence.
Without clean air, water, and healthy ecosystems, basic needs cannot be met.
Faced with pollution, climate change, and biodiversity loss that directly threaten human well-being and disproportionately affect vulnerable communities, the UN Human Rights Council recognised the universal human right to a safe, clean, healthy, and sustainable environment in 2021.
The UN General Assembly affirmed this right in 2022.
The 1992 Constitution of Ghana places responsibility on the State to ensure environmental preservation for future generations (Article 36(9)) and mandates citizens to protect the natural environment (Article 41(k)).
While the Constitution does not explicitly grant a "right to a clean environment," the issue is addressed through the Directive Principles of State Policy, which enjoins the State to promote all basic human rights and uphold international human rights instruments.
In parallel, Chapter 5 of the 1992 Constitution enshrines fundamental human rights, such as the right to life, personal liberty, and freedom from discrimination, while also affirming the State's duty to uphold these rights in the Directive Principles of State Policy (Articles 36-41).
Has the State been able to do so?
In Ghana, we are faced with the existential threat of Illegal mining. An existential threat is a risk or danger that threatens the entire existence or future potential of something, such as humanity, an entire species, or a civilisation.
Unlike regular problems, an existential threat is of such magnitude that it could lead to permanent, irreversible harm or complete annihilation, leaving no possibility of recovery or future generations.
Many people do not seem to realise the danger the country is in.
Women in Ghana suffer from illegal mining through increased exposure to toxic chemicals that contaminate water and soil, impacting their health and reproductive outcomes, including potential miscarriages and fetal deformities.
Politicians should not put their spin on this. Members of Parliament are the representatives of all of the constituents in their electorate.
The question I ask is, how well are Members of Parliament serving their constituencies?
If they are doing what they are supposed to do, do they not see polluted rivers, degraded forests, loss of biodiversity, deformed babies being born and children falling out of school because of illegal mining?
Have they helped to ensure the fundamental human rights of the right to life, water, food and health for their constituencies?
The State is obligated to take appropriate actions to ensure environmental preservation for the benefit of future generations.
The Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources is responsible for the sustainable management of Ghana's land, forests, wildlife and other natural resources through the implementation of relevant policies.
So, what went wrong? We should be calling out the ministry or the Environmental Protection Agency, Forestry Commission and Minerals Commission for having failed us?
Indeed, Ghana deserves better.
Traditional leaders
We need our traditional leaders to be fully on board in this fight against galamsey.
They have traditionally been custodians of the land, and they should cooperate with the government on finding alternative skills for the youth and work with health authorities to reduce their use of opioids.
The case is made by the Asantehene, His Royal Majesty Otumfuo Osei Tutu 11, to his colleague traditional leaders.
He gives a charge: “We have a duty to protect our lands and water bodies for future generations. Galamsey is a threat to our very existence”.
There is a body of literature out there telling us the havoc illegal mining is wreaking on the environment and the trampling of basic human rights, especially the right to water and food.
Unfortunately, politicians are not interested in what scientists, especially ecologists, have to say. Scientists in Ghana are an endangered species.
Illegal mining activities in the Ashanti Region, particularly in districts such as Obuasi, Amansie West, and Atwima Mponua, have led to extensive deforestation, soil degradation, and water pollution.
The region has been significantly impacted ecologically, as documented in numerous field studies.
Effects
In the Western Region, districts such as Tarkwa-Nsuaem, Prestea-Huni Valley, and Wassa Amenfi East, which are rich in mineral resources, have witnessed extensive ‘Galamsey’ operations.
The region is the richest region in Ghana in terms of the production of rubber, cocoa and timber. The increased attention to gold mining has affected agriculture and manufacturing. Ghana should avoid suffering from the “Dutch disease.”
The prevalence of ‘Galamsey’ in Ghana's Central Region, particularly in Assin North, Mfantseman, and Gomoa West, has jeopardised the cocoa and wood sectors. Water pollution and habitat devastation have grown widespread, threatening vital natural resources (Donkor et al., 2023).
Mining activities in districts such as Kwahu West, Birim Central, and Atewa have led to a loss of biodiversity in the Eastern Region's forests and wildlife habitats, while soil degradation poses significant challenges to local agriculture.
The Upper East Region, with districts such as Bawku West, Bongo, and Builsa North, has experienced soil degradation and the loss of fertile lands, along with siltation and pollution of the Red and sections of the White Volta and their tributaries.
What do we do?
To mitigate the water crisis caused by ‘Galamsey’ in Ghana, several actions are crucial, and these include the enforcement of regulations, community engagement, and alternative livelihood programmes.
Considering the extent of damage to our water bodies and the inaccessibility to cheaper sources of potable water, harvesting of rain as it used to be done in the olden times should be encouraged in the areas affected by illegal mining. Mawuli Secondary School, the Science Faculty Building at Central University, and the Ministry of Works and Housing have had rainwater harvesting systems successfully installed.
The district assemblies, under the Health and Sanitation Programme, should assist communities to establish Rainwater Harvesting Systems with Technical support from CSIR -Water Research Institute, Water Resources Commission, EPA, Institution of Engineering, etc.
Funds could also be sourced from the District Assembly Common Funds, Corporate Social Responsibility of mining companies, NGOs and fines from illegal miners.
Implement Water Treatment Technologies: Invest in modern water treatment technologies to remove pollutants from water sources and restore their quality.
Water is life and needs the protection of all.
That is why even in a war situation, a country’s water should never be touched. Here, in Ghana, we are polluting and poisoning our own waters.
Which country does that? We are promoting ecological suicide as practically all aquatic organisms are extinct, and these rivers are now ‘aquatic deserts’!
The Ghana Water Company is on its knees.
Do we not see the water works which are systematically shutting down?
They cannot deal with the unacceptably low turbidity levels.
That is why the scientific community is asking for a state of emergency for at least six months in illegal mining areas and a repeal of L.I. 2462.
This will allow for the registration of all illegal miners.
Those interested in alternative livelihoods should be provided these skills, and those interested in mining should be trained in “responsible mining”, the political parties are always touting.
After 6 months, the army and police should be instructed to arrest anyone engaging in galamsey and sent to reclaim the land.
The government should have a “War Room” where the military, police, policy makers and scientists strategise on winning this war against illegal mining.
The Blue Water Guards are a laudable idea, but let’s face it, some of the illegal miners are armed, and they will be no match for them. Let us not encourage this and create our own version of “Boko Haram”.
The economy may be doing well, but what is it to me when the country’s waters are polluted and forests degraded?
When will a State of Emergency in illegal mining areas be declared?
When will L.I. 2462 be repealed?
Are we waiting for that time when all our rivers have been irreversibly polluted and no trees are standing?
In this fight to restore the environmental rights of Ghanaians, I wish to congratulate the media, Erastus Asare Donkor, Dr Ken Ashigbey, Awula Serwaa and the Eco-Conscious Citizens, as well as Father John Blay and what he is doing at Jemma.
As for the Catholic Bishops Conference and the Ghana Academy of Arts and Sciences, I wish to thank them for their consistent anti-galamsey stance.
Prof. RoseEmma Mamaa Entsua-Mensah, FGA, is a Ghanaian fisheries scientist and freshwater aquatic ecologist.
