Dr. Kenneth Ashigbey has blasted the nation's officials for their inability to stop illegal mining operations that contaminate waterbodies
Dr. Ashigbey, a convener of the Media Coalition Against Galamsey expressed his frustration over the menace when interacting with Joynews. According to him, perpetrators of illegal mining are no longer hiding their activities, they are more open without consequences.
“It's basically leadership failure, all the way from the top to our local leaders. So the DCEs, the MCEs, the Police Commanders, the intelligence teams that are at the areas where these things are happening,” he stated.
According to him, for so long, galamsey activities make the operations of Ghana Water Company to provide safe and adequate water increasingly difficult throughout the country.
He raised concerns about the safety of bottled and sachet water, expressing fear that even treated water may still include dangerous amounts of metallic elements.
"Even you who is living in Accra and you think you are drinking some bottled or sachet water - how are we sure that those heavy metals are being treated out of them?" he quizzed.
According to Dr. Ashigbey, the media coalition needs to step up its efforts to address the issue because this is a crucial moment for the nation.
“The time has come to start getting lawyers to help us, go to court and start suing people who have to take actions for the things that we are doing to ourselves and to the generation yet unborn,” he stated.
He also questioned the continued stay in office of individuals placed in charge of these heavily polluted major waterbodies across the country.
He commended the recent decision of Asantehene Otumfuo Osei Tutu II to destool subchiefs engaged in illegal mining and called on the president Nana Akufo Addo to also start removing from office his appointees and party officials involved in the act.
“Why is it that the DCEs, MCEs that control the districts at where the Pra River, Tano River, and all our big river bodies have been dying - why are they still at post? The regional ministers who are coordinating these DCEs, what is happening to them?” he asked.
