General News of Sunday, 18 September 2022
Source: www.ghanaweb.live
2022-09-18Let's not politicize galamsey fight - Ellembelle DCE urges
DCE of Ellembele, Kwasi Bonzoh
Kwasi Bonzoh, the District Chief Executive of Ellembelle has played down suggestions that illegal mining is thriving in the country because politicians are mainly behind it.
Bonzoh K as he is widely known disclosed in a Citi FM interview that the galamsey space is dominated by businessmen who are leveraging on gaps and relationships in the political space
Read full articleto conduct their destructive businesses.
Bonzoh said per his experience as a leader in the galamsey fight in the Ellembelle district, blaming politicians solely for illegal mining would be a myopic way of analyzing the problem.
He has, therefore called for a non-political and holistic approach to the fight against the menace, urging Ghanaians not to impose political colors on the fight.
“Galamseyers are businessmen who take advantage of the political space. We should do this thing [fighting illegal mining] without the political colorisation of the fight”.
“When you arrest one galamseyer, the number of calls that you will receive transcends political lines. The moment you politicize it, the real actors get away with it. We are doing the unborn generations a great disservice if we don’t win this fight. If we just look on for people to just destroy our environment, what will my children come to inherit?”
Bonzoh K reaffirmed his commitment to the fight against galamsey, insisting that he is ready to put his life on the line to save his district from the destructive activities of illegal miners.
“We’re on course in the fight against galamsey. Once the president has declared this fight, I have said, I’m ready to sacrifice my life for this [galamsey] fight. Not just my political career but my life … I’m on the ground and see what’s happening.
“The illegal mining is an organised crime business because you find them compromising all who do not want to conform to their nefarious ways … they attempt to destroy you!.”
“I have found myself on the end of blackmail because of fighting galamsey. But as citizens we have a role to play…and that role comes with a price and this is why most people fear to fight this good fight,” he said.
Bonzoh K has been charged with five counts of alleged obstruction over the controversial missing excavators' saga.
The charges he will face are assault, conspiracy to assault, resisting arrest and two others.
He has pleaded not guilty to all charges and is currently on a bail.
