Prez Akufo-Addo Alert: Illegal Miners Take Over Gwira Attakrom; Destroying Vast Cocoa Farmlands And Water Bodies

The illegal miners, popularly known in Ghanaian dialect as ‘galamseyers’ have virtually taken over close to 2,000 hectares of fertile farmlands at Attakrom, a farming community in the Gwira Traditional Area of the Nzema East municipality in the Western Region.

What is quite worrying is that there is heavy involvement of foreign nationals, including Ivorians, Chinese, and Malians, who used technical device that is able to assist them identify the exact location of the mineral deposits in the area.

The illegal activities of these illegal miners are massively destroying water source, forest range reserves and environment at the expense of the residents in the area.

The illegal mining activities were alarming in the Gwira-Attakrom where a lot of cocoa and palm oil farmers were reported to sold the hectares of their juvenile cocoa and palm oil farms to the illegal miners, which they have virtually destroyed for prospecting of the gold resources.

The communities along this water body, according to information available to this news outlet rely heavily on the source of water to irrigate their farmlands and cocoa plantations.

This heart threatening situation needs an urgent attention from the Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD) to rise up to address the issue since the industry could head for a disaster if the illegal activities were not checked in the area.

However, this journalist was reliably informed that due to the pollution of the water body, farmers have to find an alternative source to irrigate their other cash crops in their farms 

Raising the alarm, the Assembly Member for  Attakrom Kukuavile Electoral Area, Honourable George Ebissah Kwasi noted that the illegal mining was taking place in the area, and called on the law enforcers to help stop the practice.

He maintained that his call on the law enforcers to help stop the practice has become necessary because the farming activities in the area was under severe threat from galamsey activities and expressed worry over the destruction of cocoa farms other cash crop farms by galamseyers.

The Assembly member blamed the galamsey activities on the current prennnial floods which had rocked the area following the heavy downpour which caused the Akonbra River to overflow its bank.

“Recently, I have personally undertakings some exercise in Attakrom area and for about 23.5 hectares that we did, they have cut down all of them for galamsey,” the Assembly man told the journalist.

He said the situation had gone from bad to worse over the past two years.

In this regard, he consequently appealed to the government of President Nana Akufo-Addo to impress upon the anti-galamsey taskforce to storm the area to flush out the activities of illegal miners while urging all stakeholders to help curb the negative impact of galamsey on cocoa production in the country.

“These illegal miners have destroyed large acres of cocoa farms and this is worrying. I urge all stakeholders and law enforcing agencies to help us in stopping illegal mining,” the Assembly member complained bitterly about the galamsey activities on their livelihoods.

“Our ancestors have been farming for years and this water body was their water source. But now we cannot use the water anymore.

“Now we have to hire tricycles to fetch water from our houses to irrigate our plants. Why should that be so,” he said in an interview.

A 71-year-old Assembly member accused local farmers and some traditional authorities in the area of conniving to facilitate the activities.

“I am really sad and appalled by what I have seen these days in the area. Some our local farmers and owners of the lands are allegedly part of what is happening in this area. Though I have the evidence,” he stated and lamented that galamseyers in the area are destroying the water bodies that they often use to water their farms.

According to him, the water bodies have lost their original colour as a result of the work of galamseyers and as such these water bodies are of no use to water their farms.

“Cocoa farming is helping but there are a lot of tools that we need. As we work, it is as though some of the cocoas are affected by the scorching sun.

All our river bodies which are only sources of our drinking water have been affected by illegal mining activities. We don’t get the water to water our cocoa farms. The waters are destroyed and the colour of these water bodies have changed,” the Assembly man raised an alarm bell.

According to him, ‘galamseyers’ have returned to area using new technologies in mining thereby destroying cocoa farms.

He noted that these illegal activities were undermining investments made by the government to eradicate illegal mining in the country.

‘It is also an obstacle to the President’s vision of increasing the output of cocoa beans from 900,000 metric tonnes to 1.5 million metric tonnes, since large acres of cocoa farms are being destroyed,” he noted.

He called on the Western Regional Security Council (REGSEC) to visit the cocoa farms in Gwira Attakrom to evaluate the damage, adding “it is terrible how they have destroyed large acres of cocoa farms and have dug new pits to mine at other places on the farms.”

He called on the Metropolitan, Municipal and District Chief Executives and REGSEC to join him to find innovative ways to clamp down on illegal miners.