Certainly, we have gone too far with the fantasy elements of our political system. If it were only a matter of party politics, we would not be overly concerned. Ghana is not the only nation where the political party system has caused everything to "scatter."
Cameron Duodu has penned: Dog Don't Eat Dog? (3) Please Cite!
Cameroon Doudu
THE TERM THAT COMES TO MIND WHEN I LOOK AT THE Ghanaian political scene in relation to the calamitous galamsey issue is "everything scatter!" (as the late musician Fela Anikpulako Kuti would say).
The office of His Excellency the President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, has taken two years to respond to a Report requested from a Minister whom the President once placed in charge of a problem that he acknowledged could cost him his presidency.
Two years have passed; what was the response? That the Minister's Report was replete with "hearsay"!
Was he asked to provide evidence for the "hearsay" statements he made?
Have independent investigations been conducted on the allegations? If it is corroborated by multiple "credible" individuals, why can't "hearsay" be transformed into fact?
Why did Professor Frimpong-Boateng remain silent for two years and observe the struggle against galamsey deteriorate, when he knew he had given the President a report that could have halted the destruction galamsey was causing to the water bodies of this country?
Clearly, he has demonstrated that he understands how to make his voice heard on an issue that is significant â to himself! Why did he not speak up on behalf of his cherished country, Ghana?
Others involved in the turmoil are now voicing their opinions. The public was never aware of their involvement in the galamsey scandal.
Gabby Otchere-Darko is one example. A mining company was not widely known to be one of his clients as a lawyer. He claims that he once spoke with Professor Frimpong-Boateng as an attorney inquiring about his client's business. Does he truly believe that anyone familiar with Ghana's power structure in 2021 would have limited his intervention to the level of an attorney and his client?
Is he unaware that, for better or worse, people view him as a member of the President's "kitchen cabinet"? Would he be surprised to discover that people who are well-versed in the political realities of the world frequently attribute greater political influence to "Kitchen Cabinet" members than to formal Cabinet members? If he was aware of this, why did he promote his attorney-client relationship with the company on whose behalf he called the Minister?
Certainly, we have gone too far with the fantasy elements of our political system. If it were only a matter of party politics, we would not be overly concerned. Ghana is not the only nation where the political party system has caused everything to "scatter."
No, in our instance we are playing with our water, our forests, and our farms. We simply cannot leave the situation unchanged.
We cannot leave people who are obligated to care about the President and the legacy he leaves behind, people who should safeguard his back by acting ethically and prudently, completely on their own when they fail to do so.
They should at least recognize that Ghanaians have eyes to see and hearing to hear.
Ghanaians can observe that rivers such as the one that flows through the President's hometown of Kyebi have transformed into "mpampa" or, even worse, "mmonkyi mmonka" [disgusting, stagnant water-filled gutters and gullies].
How anyone who has ever drank pure river water from Birem, Ankobrah, Tanoh, Offin, Oti, etc. can contemplate creating conditions, or colluding in the creation of conditions, in which his own people are forced to drink such polluted water â in peaceful times (unlike ancient eras when warfare could drive them from their birth-place) is beyond my comprehension.
That some of these individuals finance the purchase of excavators and changfangs to pollute water bodies, knowing full well that their children and grandchildren WILL INEVITABLY suffer the consequences of such ruthless irresponsibility in the future, makes me consider quitting the human race.
I anticipate the imminent publication of a report describing the maladies and congenital biological mutations that the MERCURY AND CYANIDE used to wash gold in water-bodies can cause in fetuses. Everyone should eagerly read the report upon its release. Obviously, it is late (this is "ammodin" Ghana, a country where disagreeable issues are typically swept under the rug!). However, it is preferable to act now than never.
I want all those who, through inaction, subversion, undermining, and backbiting, contributed to the failure of the fight against galamsey to be aware that history will judge them. They are attired as individuals who have been taught civilization. They attend religious services and make charitable contributions. But their brains are as dead as dead wood, and they cannot comprehend that you do not come into the world, be raised by parents who provide you with good, clean water to drink, and then, when you become wealthy or powerful, use your wealth and power to eliminate the chances of others continuing to live healthy lives in the country of their birth. Especially those you call your offspring.
Where would you be if your grandfather had been as ignorant as you and had produced a child as stupid as you? In the event that you are so ignorant that you don't know, you would be six feet underground, my friend.
There is no law in the world that requires the majority of a people to permit their fellow countrymen to murder them or their offspring through stupid actions.
In the past, our society had laws against awudifuor, amumoyefuor, akodimmaa, and akronfuor.
Our societies were organized on the basis of TRUTH AND REAL, AS OPPOSED TO BOOK KNOWLEDGE, and when such criminals were discovered, THE ASAFO was tasked with tracking them down and bringing them to justice â as publicly acknowledged and sanctioned.
It was impossible to bribe the Asafo (who apprehended criminals). Also, the elders who conducted trials could not be influenced to sacrifice the common good for the benefit of the criminals. There were no legal loopholes that favored the affluent guilty.
We must rediscover some of these techniques that ensured our people's survival in their native land.
Because the path we are on leads to CERTAIN DEATH.
Future lives ARE being sacrificed for the sake of a metal called gold.
No matter how valuable the metal is, only morons prefer it to life. For metal cannot restore the vitality of the deceased, can it?