Private Legal Practitioner, Martin Kpebu, says Ghana lacks leadership in its fight against illegal mining, popularly known as galamsey.
According to him, Ghana’s leaders have, throughout the fight against galamsey, displayed their lack of fortitude and will power to bring the menace and its players to their knees to face the full force of the law.
He stated that the lack of political will to ensure that those found culpable be brought to book has significantly undermined the entire fight against illegal mining.
This he says can be witnessed in how the state has treated galamsey kingpins, and how state security apparatus sent to protect natural resources end up aiding and abetting these kingpins to further destroy the resources they were sent to protect.
Speaking on JoyNews’ Newsfile on Saturday, Martin Kpebu said, “We lack leadership in the fight. The leadership isn’t showing that they have the fortitude, if I may add Kweku Baako’s favourite phrase, the testicular fortitude to fight galamsey, that’s what it is.
“I like the way Professor Nyarko put it poignantly that we don’t mean the fight, and I mean, it just struck a chord with me, we don’t really mean the fight. If we did why would the operations team, Operation Galamsey –you know later they even disbanded it – so let’s just say why did the police man the places during the day time and then go to bed at night knowing that if they did, these galamseyers would come at night to mine?
“So I mean, can’t the police run shift? The military and the police, can’t they run shift? It’s a no brainer that some will do the day and others will do the night. So if we can’t fight galamsey, we cannot keep just a few thousands out of this galamsey fight, then I wonder if we can fight a real battle if Ghana were attacked.”
According to him, so far Ghana’s leadership has merely paid lip service to the fight against galamsey and is yet to show any serious commitment to the fight.
“There’s no willpower, we just don’t have the willpower to fight, no we don’t. That’s how those people get complicit. You know the President said he was putting his Presidency on the line, yes, that was a nice byline for the media. We all caught on that yes the President means it but with hindsight we see that is a no,” he said.