What does it mean to be a Ghanaian?

When I was a young journalist, I used to resent the constant trooping
of Ghanaian delegations to foreign countries, to attend conferences.
Couldn’t all that money be used to build schools, clinics and other things that our people needed? I wondered. And then I had to go on a delegation myself. I was in the company of a Nigerian, an Indian, a Somali, two Angolans, a Senegalese and a
Brazilian.

We visited many institutions in several countries, where we were
invariably invited to say something about our countries.

I found out that whereas only polite applause usually greeted the mention of
the names of the countries of the other people in my group, wild
cheers almost always greeted mention of the name Ghana.

This was because most of the missions and delegations Ghana sent
abroad at that time had been making excellent speeches on our quest for
freedom and our desire to co-operate with other countries to achieve
world peace and friendship.

The efforts of the delegations had won the friendship of the people
of many countries for Ghana. And so, whenever I was introduced to a
gathering, they knew the name “Ghana” and associated it with Africa’s
struggle for independence.

I learnt that as an individual, I mattered little to the rest of the
world. But “Ghana! … Ghana! Ghana!”, on the other hand, meant
something to almost every individual I met abroad who had heard of the
country.

No wonder I feel personally disgraced whenever anyone does something
that reflects badly on Ghana.

And that’s partly why I have taken the risk of sounding like a broken
record by writing constantly against the existence of galamsey in our
country.

To be perfectly honest, I just cannot see how it’s possible for a
human being equipped with the power of reasoning, not to be able to see how stupid it is to destroy our rivers and streams in search of gold.

Humans need good water to drink in order to stay alive. Yet
“human-Ghanaians” are deliberately destroying Ghana’s water-bodies, as
well as their sources.

Galamseyers can see, as they use bulldozers and Chtan fans to churn up
the beds of our rivers and streams, that the water is changing colour;
that the free-running of the water is being interfered with, as the
water-course is diverted towards an unnatural dead-end, where it
cannot flow on the natural course it had carved into the earth over
thousands of years.

The water, thus diverted, stands still and turns into a crater of
greenish-brown algae. It becomes a poisonous mixture of decaying matter and
the residues of mercury, arsenic and the other deadly chemicals
employed by the gold-diggers.

Villagers and townspeople are deprived of their drinking water and
have to purchase sachet water to drink (if they can afford it!) What
happens when they do not have enough money to buy sachet water?
They may collect muddy water and boil it before drinking. But if
boiling the water can kill microbes, it cannot altogether eliminate
the remnants of the chemicals.

So, cancers and all assorts of diseases that used not to be common in
our rural areas, are now prevalent there.

When I was growing up, people in my village mainly died of old age.
People like: Nana Afia Korang; Nana Yaa Wusuaa; Nana Afia Ataa; Nana
Abenaa Nookwaa; Nana Afia Boatemaa, Nana Nisuoasa; Nana Maniasa…
All of these ladies grew up to a ripe old age by drinking from two
rivers – Supong and Twafuor. Their offspring now drink sachet water
(when they can afford it).

It is evident that the offspring will only enjoy at most two-thirds of
the lifespan granted to their ancestors by Mother Nature.

And that will happen, in spite of the amazing advances that have been
made in the science of medicine.

We have to remind ourselves again and again that it’s because of this
unnatural situation – which some of our own people have wrapped
around us like a cursed cloud - that we must ALL fight relentlessly
against galamsey.

We should further remember that in any worthwhile battle, all cannot
be expected to go smoothly. In a shooting war, for instance, armies
can run out of arms and ammunition or other supplies. Nevertheless, an
army tries to move constantly forward. Retreating is an intolerable
disgrace which no self-respecting army will inflict upon itself. It
just isn’t a viable option.

Similarly, in a war against social aberrations (like galamsey) there
are bound to be major obstacles: the people who used to make money
destroying rivers and forest reserves but can’t do so any longer,
because of “Galamstop”, will resort to all manner of subterfuges to
reverse the situation to what is known in history as “status quo
ante….” [The situation as it was before…]

Indeed, it would be an abnormality if such a fight-back did not occur.
Now, the struggle against galamsey is not for any individual, or even a
generation, but for all who have been deposited, or will grow up in
future, on this beautiful land we call Ghana.

The Akufo-Addo government is trying to stop galamsey and reclaim our
water-sources back for all of us. We should therefore unite behind it,
for if we do so, we shall be acting on behalf of succeeding
generations not yet born.

Do we want them to be born only to curse us as “the generation whose greed destroyed Ghana's God-given drinking water for its own children?

If we don’t want that obnoxious distinction to be applied to us, then
our duty is clear: we must keep the morale of the struggle against
galamsey high, despite setbacks.

Our cause is right. It deserves to succeed. And it shall succeed.

Damn the machinations against it!