The Member of Parliament (MP) for Ellembelle Constituency in the Western Region, Mr. Emmanuel Armah Kofi Buah, has expressed worry over the illegal mining (galamsey) activities at Nkroful, the hometown of the first President of the Republic of Ghana.
The MP who is the former Petroleum Minister, during the John Mahama-led administration visited the devastated land in the area following an appeal made by some irate youth through GhanaWeb to come to their aid to stop the menace.
Speaking to these angry youth last week, they stated that these recalcitrant Galamseyers started their operations at Anwia in August 2019 and had managed to extend their activities to Nkroful.
According to them (angry Nkroful Youth), activities have resurrected at Nkroful, birth place and final burial place of Ghana's first President, Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah which has become a tourist site with the Kwame Nkrumah mausoleum, Kwame Nkrumah motel, state burial of Dr. Nkrumah's mother, Maame Nyaniba, the mythical tale of the Subre River and also Nkroful Agricultural Senior High School land.
The bone of contention now is the River Subre which is now at the mercy of galamsey activities.
This historic Subre River is the main source of drinking water for the good people of Nkroful, Teleku-Bokazo and Anwia and right now, this water body has been polluted by the illegal activities of Galamseyers in the area.
Some about over 10 acres of land have been degraded by these recalcitrant Galamseyers.
Upon assumption of office, President Akufo-Addo Akufo-Addo declared war on galamsey whether by locals or foreigners to protect the environment from devastation.
He even promised to put his presidency on line to combat this menace.
President Akufo-Addo, has since set up Operation Vanguard and other Committees to monitor the activities of galamsey across Ashanti, Central, Eastern, Western North and Western Regions.
After touring the devastated land while others were mining on Tuesday, April 14, 2020, the NDC MP Emmanuel Armah Kofi-Buah worried about how the activities of the galamseyers were destroying the land belonging to the only Secondary School in the area.
"Here is very closer to Nkroful township and people are doing galamsey here and it covers the land of Nkroful Agricultural Senior High School (NASS) and if you see how they are destroying the land you will weep, it is very bad and sad", he said.
"Now that I am talking, we are in pains because of Coronavirus while some of us at home worrying about the disease, some people are also here destroying our land and water bodies and if we don't wake up against it, it will affect us", he noted.
"It seems we don't have any leader here and what we hear always on air is that this government is fighting the galamsey but still people are doing it".
He said some people were thinking about money rather than about the next generation, adding that they would not wait till they kill the residents of Nkroful and its environs.
The MP who first visited the site, has pledged his total commitment as their Lawmaker to stage war against the menace by stopping the galamsey activities for good.
"So what money are these people looking from here before they kill the residents of Nkroful and Teleku-Bokazo? What I have seen today, I am very sad and by all means we have to fight against this menace else we will not get water to drink".
He also took the opportunity to call on the residents of Nkroful and its environs to rally behind him to fight against the galamsey activities.
"I will call on the good people of Nkroful and its environs to support us to fight it and if this government will not do it, we have do it".
He added, "With the devastation I have seen here, is shocking and look at these machines, the last time we heard of it we were told that some people have been arrested and they asked them to use these machines to do reclamation but this not reclamation, people are actively working, what it means that they are being supported by authorities here and I mean the local government authorities, government in power".
Mr. Armah Kofi-Buah gave the Galamseyers a 48-hour ultimatum to stop their operations.
"I give the people here (galamsey site) forty-eight hours to stop working, I am not going to stop this fight, we need to stop them and I am going to ask the people of Nkroful to join me. They should think about the future of their children, we should stop this galamsey here. It is not worth anything, it is destroying our water bodies, it is destroying our livelihood and the consequences for this in the coming rainy season is going to affect us if we don't stop them", he concluded.
The concerned youth of Nkroful led by their leader, Johnny Daniel thanked the Member of Parliament for the area for responding to their appeal.
He promised the MP to collaborate with him to fight against the menace.
He, therefore, called on President Akufo-Addo to listen to their cries and show leadership by directing military personnel to storm the site to stop these recalcitrant Galamseyers for once.
He said right now the residents were finding it difficult to get potable water to drink and wash their hands against the deadly Coronavirus.
He hinted that if the government failed to stop them from working, they would stage a mammoth demonstration despite the Coronavirus pandemic.
Emmanuel Armah Kofi-Buah is MP for Ellembelle