Private legal practitioner Kwame Akuffo has warned that the destruction of Ghana’s water bodies through illegal mining could lead to serious conflict in the future if urgent action is not taken.
Speaking on JoyNews’ Newsfile on Saturday, April 25, during a discussion on galamsey, he said the country is heading towards a crisis where access to clean water may become a source of tension among citizens.
“We are going to be fighting over water. There’s going to be a time that people will now barge into your house and say, ‘ Give me your water,’” he cautioned.
Mr Akuffo said that the issue goes beyond environmental damage and should be treated as a threat to human survival.
“Those who are into galamsey are taking away our right to life. There is an existential threat to the right to life,” he said.
He explained that the pollution and depletion of water bodies reflect what he described as the “tragedy of the commons”, where shared resources are overused without control.
“This is about the unregulated sharing of depletable resources,” he said, adding that water is at the centre of the crisis.
According to him, the financial burden of treating polluted water is already weighing heavily on the state. “The government is spending money it doesn’t have to treat the water,” he said, suggesting that prevention would be more effective and less costly.
Mr Akuffo also criticised what he sees as a weak national response to the problem, saying that society has failed to treat galamsey with the urgency it deserves.
“We protect people against minor issues much more than we protect the citizenry against galamsey,” he said.
He linked the worsening situation to poor leadership and a lack of decisive policy action.
“The greed flourishes on the back of a lack of leadership,” he stated.
While proposing strong measures to address illegal mining, he said that the core issue remains the protection of life through safeguarding natural resources, especially water.
“Galamsey is a threat to life now and tomorrow. Unless we eliminate those who make this possible, we are going to face a bigger crisis,” he said.
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