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It was a day filled with chants, energy, and a united demand for one thing—the end of illegal mining, known in Ghana as galamsey.
The third and final day of the three-day protest echoed not only the call to stop the environmental destruction but also the demand for the release of 53 protesters arrested two weeks ago.
The march began at Okponglo in Legon and moved through key streets in Accra on Saturday, October 5.
Led by police, the determined youth, mostly dressed in red and black, sang patriotic songs to amplify their message.
The placards they carried spoke volumes, with inscriptions like “We need clean water,” “Stop galamsey now,” and “Akufo-Addo, let my people go,” reflecting the urgency and emotion behind the movement.
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After a grueling 12-kilometer walk, the demonstration culminated near the Accra Sports Stadium, transforming into a vigil for the detained protesters.
There, the vigil developed into a sensitization session with the screening of a documentary by JoyNews’ Erastus Asare Donkor which detailed the devastating effects of galamsey on Ghanaians including babies.
Despite a heavy downpour, the passionate crowd remained, honoring those arrested and demanding their immediate release. In the pouring rain, the voices of Ghana’s youth were unwavering.
Galamsey is illigal small-scale gold mining in Ghana. The term is derived from the phrase “gather them and sell”. The miners are known as galamseyers, Galamseyers dig small working pits, tunnels, and sluices by hand. The practice is also referred to as illegal artisanal Small-Scale mining .
Backgroud
Several hundred opposition protesters rallied in Ghana’s capital Accra on Tuesday to denounce the country’s lingering economic crisis, blaming it on the central bank governor’s policies.
Dubbed “OccupyBoGProtest”, the opposition leadership says the Bank of Ghana governor Ernest Addison must resign for overseeing an economy where inflation has hit 40 percent.
“If the whole country needs 1 billion from the IMF every year for three years to fix our problem and Addison (ed note: Ernest Addison the Governor of the Bank of Ghana) in one year can superintend the loss of 5 billion. Who’s our problem?” points out Samuel Nartey George, MP for Ningo- Prampram.
“This government, they know that they are losing power. They have nothing to lose. If the BOG destroys Ghana, they don’t care. If Addison runs Ghana down, they don’t care. But we, the people, must care,” adds Francis-Xavier Kojo Sosu, MP for Madina Constituency, Greater Accra Region.
Led by the opposition National Democratic Congress or NDC Minority Leader Cassiel Ato Forson, protesters chanted patriotic songs while others blew vuvuzeles, drummed and danced near ranks of heavily armed police.
“If the NDC is a government in waiting, the NDC must be interested in every protest that seeks to protect the interests of the ordinary Ghanaian. So the NDC must not only take advantage, the NDC must come and lead the protest. And that is why we, the minority MPs, we are the people here leading the protest,” noted Francis-Xavier Kojo Sosu, MP for Madina Constituency, Greater Accra Region.
Ghana’s economic outlook will be a major theme as the country heads to elections, with President Nana Akufo-Addo stepping down after his two terms allowed by the constitution.
The ruling New Patriotic Party or NPP will hold primary elections next month to select its candidate for the December 2024 presidential election.
Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia, a former deputy central bank governor, is widely touted by pollsters as the favourite to win that primary race to become the NPP candidate.
The NDC has selected ex Ghanaian president John Dramani Mahama as its candidate for the 2024 presidential race. Mahama lost to Akufo-Addo in the 2016 and 2020 elections.
Source: Myjoyonline & Africa News
