It is 'shamelessly stupid' what we are doing to ourselves in this country – Veteran Journalist on 'galamsey' menace

Veteran Broadcaster Cameron Duodu has bemoaned the lack of political will to fight the menace of illegal small-scale mining in the country, popularly known as 'galamsey'.

Speaking in an interview on GhanaWeb's Lowdown programme, Cameron Duodu said that what is more worrying is that persons who actively engage in

Read full article'galamsey' activities are well-known political figures. "These 'galamsey' politicians even boast on live TV about making huge sums of money from galamsey, and nothing happens to them," he said.

He added that the country's leaders also allow foreigners, including the Chinese, to participate in this illegality.

"It is absolutely incontestable that what we are doing to this country is shameless stupid. What alarms me most is that they allow Chinese people to bring excavators to turn our rivers upside done. Go to China, go and see rivers, including the Yellow River; you dare not pollute it; they will shoot you.

"But here we are (in Ghana where) important political personalities boast of making $1m a day from 'galamsey'. If he had said that in China, he wouldn't be alive today," Mr. Duodu told the host of Lowdown, Ismail Akwei.

Mr. Duodu, a former editor at the Daily Graphic, said that illegal mining is gradually affecting the supply of portable, clean and healthy water and will soon lead to water being scarce in the country if urgent steps are not taken.

He, therefore, urged the media to work on reports that will help make Ghanaians, including politicians, understand the importance of stopping the menace of 'galamsey' in the country.

Watch the interview below:



IB/SEA