Military Alone Won't Curb Galamsey" - Hon. Mireku Duker

The Deputy Minister for Lands and Natural Resources who doubles as the Member of Parliament for Tarkwa Nsuaem, George Mireku Duker, has warned against relying on military force as an option in bringing to an end the galamsey menace that has since consumed the country. Recently, he said what was needed was a multi-faceted strategy directed at the root causes of illegal mining.

Duker drove his point home by saying that, even as the military may be used as a supportive intervention, long-term solutions need to be reached by addressing such core problems as poverty and lack of alternative livelihoods and education. To clarify this point, he made it known that all the people practicing illegal mining are unemployed, and as a way of fending for themselves and their families, they engage in this activity to make ends meet. He insisted on developing sustainable mining and community involvement and cooperation among the different stakeholders.

He further spoke on how the government has to put in a balanced approach to not stop these people without providing them with alternate means of survival and properly ensuring that the law enforcement bodies do their part by keeping them off the lands and water bodies where they mine instead of conniving with them take bribes.

He said: 

"Over the years, successive governments have tried to use the military to fight galamsey but none of them succeeded. This shows that militarisation of galamsey won't provide a long term solution. We are the ones who can solve the galamsey problem."

He, therefore, called for a holistic approach against the deployment of more military forces by the government recently to fight against galamsey. According to him, community-based initiatives and sustainable development strategies could prove more efficient in ensuring long-term success.