Huge crowd, vigil climax 3-day galamsey protest

The three-day protest against illegal mining climaxed last Saturday as thousands of people marched and later held a vigil in Accra. 

The vigil at the car park of the Accra Sports Stadium was also in solidarity with 53 people remanded by the courts for an earlier protest by the Democracy Hub.

The protesters, mainly made up of youth groups, urged President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to declare a blanket ban on galamsey and all sorts of mining in forest reserves and water bodies.

They further demanded the unconditional release of those remanded in custody, condemning the authorities' crackdown on civil protest and dissent.

Clad in red and black, the protesters marched with placards, chanted slogans and sang patriotic songs that echoed through the city's thoroughfares, demanding an end to the destructive practice that has ravaged the country's ecology and water resources.

They marched for hours, covering about 10 km from Okponglo near the University of Ghana in the eastern part of the capital to the Accra Sports Stadium, where they converged for the vigil at 7:10 p.m.

The procession wound its way through the Tetteh Quarshie Interchange, Airport, Kanda and Ridge, leaving a trail of heavy vehicular traffic in its wake.

A bus was deployed by the organisers behind the marchers, providing relief for weary demonstrators who could hop aboard and continue their journey.

Some of the placards on display read: "Your silence means you support their atrocities”, “Evil breeds when good people keep quiet", "Speak up against galamsey to protect our ancestral land and preserve our future", "#SayNoToGalamsey" and "Free the citizens".

At the vigil, documentaries on the devastation caused by illegal mining were shown on a giant screen, while various speakers took turns to address the crowd.

The names of the 53 incarcerated protesters were also projected on the screen, each turn attracting loud chants for their release.

Female protesters received special essential care packs, including water and free sanitary pads from the organisers. 

The gesture was to guarantee that no one needed to leave the vigil due to menstrual concerns.

Galamsey, a phenomenon that has been likened to a "resource curse", has left in its wake a trail of devastated landscapes, polluted rivers and degraded farmlands.

Some youth who participated in the protest said they were tired of the government's inaction.

"We couldn't sit idle while our future is being destroyed," Jason Tutu, an activist and one of the leaders of the protest, told the Daily Graphic.

Mr Tutu said the youth would fight to ensure that mining was organised in a way that it would becoame a national benefit and not a curse. 

“This form of resistance will not end with galamsey. Once we get the energy of the youth, we will channel it into other demands,” he added.

Mr Tutu, who participated in the Occupy Ghana protest in 2015, said that protest was organised by the older generation along the lines that appeared to be neutral, but when political power switched, he realised that many of the leaders had different motives.

“This one was organised by young people, and it was not political; the spirit of the nation is being awakened by the youth, and after December 7, no government can take this nation for granted,” he said.

The 62-year-old grandmother who was arrested with other protesters two weeks ago with a nine-year-old child and later released, Naa Densua, told the Daily Graphic that she was angry about the state of rivers and the amount of poison being consumed due to the activities of illegal mining.

“It is not any mother’s dream to watch her child being poisoned through the water they drink and the food they eat. Every mother wants their children to be healthy, but with what is going on now, your children will be poisoned and I don’t enjoy that,” she said.

“The police are not happy. It’s only the uniform, but they will be smiling at you as you pass and urge you on,” she said.

Another protester, Michael Korku Nutakor, said the level of water pollution by illegal mining was scary.

“I wish some people did random tests, and they will see that all of us have mercury in our systems, but we think it’s far away,” he said. 

Petition

Earlier on Friday, the protesters presented a petition to the government, calling for stringent measures to combat galamsey, and to protect the country’s natural resource heritage.