CNN’s International Correspondent, Larry Madowo, and his crew, who have visited Ghana to work on a report on illegal mining activities in the country faced a minor setback.
On their way to a location in the Western Region, they encountered a road path that appeared unmotorable. A part of the road was submerged by water.
Shocked and scared, a crew member disembarked from the tricycle that was commuting them. The tricycle spent some minutes in the muddy water before finding its way out.
“We went to rural Ghana to report on galamsey – illegal small scale gold mining. When the full report airs on CNN, you’ll know how hectic it was to get there,” Larry Madowo posted on X in reaction to the incident.
https://twitter.com/LarryMadowo/status/1856294735264022598
Many Ghanaians have hurled criticism against the Akufo-Addo-led government over its failure to fixing the bad roads in the country and ending illegal mining. Prior to assuming office, then presidential candidate for the NPP – now president, Nana Akufo-Addo put his presidency on the line to address illegal mining activities.
Several initiatives such as halting operations of small-scale miners, Operation Halt and laws to ban mining in restricted areas were implemented, however, none of these have been able to address the underlying issues.
In recent years, Ghanaians have witnessed brutal destruction of water bodies such as Pra River, River Oti and forest reserves by audacious illegal miners. Such actions have hindered the continuous supply of water to some areas in the country and the situation could worsen should galamsey not be addressed, according to the Ghana Water Company Limited.
Amid public criticism, some Ghanaians hit the streets to protest against the government to finally take pragmatic steps to address galamsey. Some sections of the public called for the suspension of mining of small-scale miners to enable affected water bodies recover. This request has however been shot down by the government due to the economic benefits in foreign exchange that Ghana derives from gold production and exportation.