Galamseyer narrates how he lost his friend in an operation

Illegal mining, known commonly as 'Galamsey' has been a major challenge facing Ghana with its dire effects on the country's environment.

The serious threat posed by this phenomenon to Ghana's environment including water bodies has compelled the government of Ghana to initiate a fight against it.

While a section of the population are blatantly against galamsey and have vehemently expressed their dissent to the development, quite a few individuals seem to be on the fence with respect to the menace.

A young man by name Kobby has narrated how his life 'got better' through galamsey as well as losing his best friend in the process.

According to him, he was working as a vulcaniser but the money he was earning from it was inadequate to cater for his basic needs. He then decided to venture into the galamsey business.

On his first day at the mining site, he realised the work was not easy but he had no option than to persevere through it.

He learnt on the job, the various types of galamsey including 'bowhewe' which literally means 'dig and search' in the Akan language, which is the one that involved excavators degrading the land.

"I did a couple of it but I mostly do the ‘bowhehwe', the excavator one. I followed a friend but it didn’t work because it was dangerous for me and it was mostly owned by wicked Chinese with less money”, he said.

He revealed that on his  first day, he earned only GH¢30 but was assured by some of his colleagues that his remuneration would increase with time and that encouraged him to put much effort into his work.

The highest amount of money he has earned from the business was GH¢1000 a day, which he said he saved it to further his education.

He also added that the galamsey business was a "dangerous" one that comes with a lot of problems including drowning and loss of lives especially those who engaged in underground mining as on some occasions, the top of the soil can break and cover your back.

Explaining how risky the underground mining was, Kobby recounted how he lost his best friend through it.

“He was my best friend. used to go underground with him. A very hardworking guy. We went underground for gold. I took the lead. When I got back, I was waiting for him at the entrance of the pit not knowing the soil collapsed n covered the middle way of the pit. I couldn’t find him afterwards. That was when I realized that my friend had lost his life” Kobby painfully recounted.

Kobby said that was when he advised himself to stay away from such a job and went into different ventures.

He pleaded with people having the intention of engaging in galamsey to stay away because it destroys the nature of the land and the loss of lives is terrible.

Watch the full interview here