Galamsey's Human Cost: Will Lives Lost in Helicopter Crash Spur Change?

Eight (8) died, including ministers, government officials, and military officers, in a helicopter crash en route to launch an anti-galamsey program. Their deaths raise a critical question: Will this tragedy finally drive real action against illegal mining, or change nothing?

“Indeed, we are being urged to resist the oppressor’s rule. The oppressor, this morning, for which reason we have gathered here, is illegal mining, and that is why, under the auspices of the Minister for Lands and Natural Resources, we have to launch the Responsible Cooperative Mining and Skills Development”

These are the words of the Master of the Ceremony (MC) for the launch event immediately after the National Anthem was played. It was in the name of this event for which these 8 persons had to make the trip by air to Obuasi.

This shows their trip, which led to their demise, has everything to do with the illegal mining menace, widely known as galamsey. They soared into the skies on a mission for the land, for the people, and for the future of Ghana’s natural wealth. But they never made it back.

The Defence Minister, Dr. Edward Omane Boamah, and the Environment Minister, Dr. Ibrahim Murtala Mohammed, including six other equally precious lives, died in service to the nation on Wednesday when a military helicopter transporting them to Obuasi crashed in the Ashanti Region.

They were not traveling for political showmanship. They were not heading to a rally or a ribbon-cutting ceremony. They were en route to launch the Responsible Cooperative Mining and Skills Development Programme (rCOMSDEP), a national initiative to formalize small-scale mining and rehabilitate the devastated lands carved open by illegal mining, as part of efforts to deal with the menace.

The question on many minds is, “Will this tragic loss stir us into action, or will we continue to look away?”

A Sacrifice Paid with Blood

The helicopter that carried these 8 patriots was not just carrying passengers and crew members, but also the vision of the country and the government to end the devastation of galamsey.

A vision for a country where rivers are clean again. Where forests breathe again. Where mining brings life, not death. A vision that will ensure that small-scale mining is sustainable and works for all Ghanaians.

Yet, they died a gory death trying to rescue Ghana’s soul from the grip of lawlessness. They died trying to bring order to a sector that has become one of our greatest threats to our existence. A menace feeds our economy on one hand, and bleeds our environment on the other.

It is perhaps one of fate’s cruelest ironies that in trying to prevent death and degradation, they met their own.

Why This Should Shake the Fight Against Galamsey

We have known for years what illegal mining has done. We’ve seen the muddy, lifeless Ankobra and Pra rivers. We’ve seen children abandon school for galamsey pits. We’ve seen soldiers deployed, only to return home with nothing but accusations and fatigue.

Ministers have spoken. Presidents have made promises. Yet, galamsey continues to flourish now stronger, deeper, and more defiant.

Eight precious souls have been lost in connection with this situation. Will they die in vain?

If the loss of two sitting ministers, other government officials, and innocent military officers cannot jolt us into a new resolve, then what can?

If this national tragedy does not awaken the conscience and the resolve of the political elite, the mining communities, the powerful financiers behind galamsey, and the ordinary Ghanaian, then we are a nation lost in its own silence.

This must not be just a crash. It must be a painful turning point in Ghana’s fight against what the environmentalists term as “ecocide.”

We Owe Them More Than Just Tears

Their names will appear in tributes. Their images will be hung at rightful places. Their families will receive state support. But that is not enough.

The greatest honour we can give them is to finish what they died trying to do. Our appreciation should be expressed in a real, unapologetic, sustained war on illegal mining. One that goes beyond photoshops and press statements. One that confronts the untouchables. One who chooses water, the forest, the land over gold,  and our future over fortune.

The Bottomline

Ghana stands at a crossroads again. As one Facebook user just posted that “The best legacy; It must be said one day that, this incident wiped off illegal mining ‘galamsey’ from Ghana … Amen” all Ghanaians should be in agreement.

The question is no longer what the government alone will do. It is what we all will do. So again, we ask: Will their deaths mark the turning point? All it will business usual as if nothing has happened after few days of mourning.

Source: The High Street Journal/Fredrick Addai Kwarteng