A leading voice in the fight against illegal mining, Dr. Kenneth Ashigbey, has expressed disappointment that Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) left their recent meeting with President John Mahama without clear timelines or measurable milestones to track the government’s promises.
Dr. Ashigbey, who is a key member of the Media Coalition Against Galamsey and Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Chamber of Telecommunications, disclosed this on JoyNews’ PM Express on October 6.
“The format of the programme did not get that opportunity, so we did not get the clear milestones and we did not get clear timelines,” he noted.
President Mahama, on October 3, held discussions with CSOs at the Jubilee House, urging them to intensify advocacy and sustain pressure on the government to end the menace of galamsey. The meeting followed mounting concerns from environmental groups about the government’s slow pace and strategy in addressing the crisis.
Dr. Ashigbey revealed that the Coalition had planned to seek clarity on what would constitute a state of emergency, the timelines for proposed interventions, and how government defined success in the galamsey fight. However, those questions were left unanswered.
“Looking at what the Lands Minister did, and again, we should bear in mind that there was a presentation the minister did before our ask. In his concluding slide, there were a few issues that had timelines, but the majority of them did not have timelines,” he explained.
According to him, even the President’s responses lacked specificity. “The President, who was responding to the issues he did address, was only talking about what would result in him declaring a state of emergency. The only way we heard was that it is his National Security chiefs who are failing us. And so we did not get all the timeline from that again,” Dr. Ashigbey said.
He further lamented that accountability measures for local authorities and traditional leaders were missing from the discussions.
“On the issues of chiefs and the fact that the good ones are preventing galamsey from happening, and those who are not should be held responsible, since the DCEs and all that, that did not come,” he added.
With illegal mining continuing to wreak havoc on the country’s environment, water bodies, and farmlands, CSOs insist that without clear deadlines and accountability structures, government’s promises risk remaining rhetoric.
