Galamsey: It'll boomerang in your face if you declare war - Allotey Jacobs cautions govt

Social commentator and former NDC Central Regional Chairman, Bernard Allotey Jacobs has advised President Nana Akufo-Addo to apply persuasion in his fight against illegal mining.

The country's water bodies and lands are destroyed as a result of illegal mining activities.

There are fears that, if not stopped, Ghana might have to import water in offing.

For the sake of future generations and the country's health, the President has opened a dialogue with small-scale miners to find ways to stop illegal mining, also called galamsey.

The President says he isn't backing out of the fight, therefore pledging full commitment to protect the mining communities and the water bodies from contamination.

Speaking on Peace FM's 'Kokrokoo' programme, Allotey Jacobs offered that the President should not use force but have interactions with the players in illegal mining.

He asked the President and the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) to task their communicators to go to all mining communities, educating and persuading them to stop engaging in galamsey.

He believed this approach is the best way to address the issue.

"If you declare war, it will boomerang in your face as a government . . . it took 32 years for NPP to come to power . . . . look, you have your troops. You have your communicators. You have the people who have been employed by government. Go to the grounds; get down. It should always be the duty of the security agencies. Look at this alternative livelihood, sit down with them community by community in the areas where galamsey takes place. Talk to the people; persuade them."

"We're human beings. We have the reasoning power which God has given to us. We can decipher from what is good and bad. Look, let's take advantage. Engage the community where galamsey is being operated and they're a lot. Send people down, let's sit with them; let's school them. I believe that this kind of persuasion can be achieved. At least it won't stop it at ago but gradually we will phase it out," he said.