– Says Ghanaian water sources contaminated by illegal mining operations
Mkpoikana Udoma
Port Harcourt — A coalition of civil society groups across Africa has called for a state of emergency on mining activities in Ghana due to the severe contamination of water sources by illegal mining operations, known as galamsey.
The coalition known as Our Water Our Right Africa Coalition, OWORAC, emphasized that access to clean and safe drinking water was a fundamental human right and remain critical in the face of escalating ecological damage.
OWORAC in a statement sighted by SweetCrude Reports highlighted the alarming use of toxic chemicals such as mercury and cyanide by illegal miners, which according to them, have polluted vital rivers like the Densu, Birim, Pra, Ankobra, and Tano.
The coalition explained that these contaminants pose significant health risks to local communities, with reports linking them to reproductive health issues and other serious ailments.
The statement was jointly signed by prominent advocates for environmental and human rights across Africa, including Mr Omeme Gaslin, of Génération Eau Claire (Gabon); Mr. Akinbode Oluwafemi, of Corporate Accountability and Public Participation Africa (Nigeria); Ms. Anne Maine, Biodiversity and Biosafety Association (Kenya) and seven others.
The coalition pointed out that the pollution has forced the Ghana Water Company Limited to shut down several treatment plants, leading to increased water scarcity and rising tariffs, and condemned the government’s repressive measures against peaceful protests, regretting that the authorities have prioritized electoral interests over public health.
OWORAC demanded immediate government intervention to address the crisis, including remediation efforts for affected water bodies and stricter regulations on mining practices; and insisted that urgent and responsible action was essential to protect the rights and livelihoods of communities impacted by illegal mining.
The statement reads, “Water sources such as the Densu, Birim, Pra, Ankobra, and Tano rivers, which previously served as important sustaining utilities for many frontline communities and households, are now toxic streams, exposing helpless people who have no choice but to continue drinking from them to dire health consequences. The pollution of these rivers has destroyed aquatic life and rendered soils infertile, stripping local fish and crop farmers of their livelihoods and slashing agricultural productivity.
“Pathetically, in Bibiani-Anhwiaso-Bekwai district, an illegal mining hub in Western Ghana, medical experts have established a connection between illegal mining and troubling reproductive health issues after conducting investigations that detected the presence of heavy metals such as cyanide and mercury in the placentas of pregnant women, resulting in congenital disabilities in their newborns.
“So pervasive is the trouble of galamsey that the Ghana Water Company Limited has had to shut down some of its water treatment plants supplying potable water to communities, leading to increased water scarcity and hardship. This unfortunate situation is now also driving up water tariffs. Even so, experts’ analyses of the situation predict a grim future, where Ghana might face the need to import water by 2030 if galamsey persists unchecked.
“Yet despite this troubling outlook, the state’s response has been repression rather than resolution. Citizens and protesters demanding action from the Ghanaian government have been arrested by the police, brutally manhandled and detained, and denied access to legal representation and their families.
“OWORAC vehemently condemns these oppressive actions by the Ghanaian government and its security apparatus, working to silence legitimate public dissent.
Instead of criminalising people for speaking up against the threat of galamsey to their lives, we urge the Ghanaian government to declare a state of emergency on all mining activities in and around water bodies as directed by the constitution of the republic.
“Ironically, despite governmental promises to combat this crisis, a palpable lack of political will and the entanglement of high-ranking politicians in galamsey operations across the country, as revealed by the government’s own Inter-Ministerial Committee set up to investigate the issue, continue to obstruct meaningful change.
“Sardonically, government-backed political actors have publicly disclosed that their government will not act against galamsey operations because of the possible negative impact it may have on their electoral fortunes in the upcoming general elections that will be held in less than two months away, selfishly and pathetically placing their electoral fortunes above the public health of the electorates they expect to secure the votes from.
“We refuse to accept this status quo, where the greed of a few outweighs the well-being of many and the cause of social justice. We insist on immediate, responsible action to halt the ongoing poisoning of public health and collapse of the source of livelihood for the many people who live in communities around these water bodies.”
