Criminalise ecocide in Ghana to curb illegal gold mining catastrophe
This series of guest blog posts is intended as a dedicated space for the many movements/campaigns around the globe confronting ecosystem destruction to share their stories, narratives and perspectives.
Nana Yaw Osei-Darkwa is an entrepreneur, environmental advocate, and founder of the Green Republic Project.
In September, Ghanaian citizens took to the capital’s streets and mass arrests sparked a national outcry. In October, another three-day mobilisation made headlines. Meanwhile, the BBC reported from the banks of Ghana’s Pra River that the water “was so thick and discoloured that an artist was able to use it as paint”. The national water company declared that it had had to reduce its clean water supply by 75% and reports suggested that forest cover has been diminished by over 4000 hectares, or around 6500 football pitches.
The cause of this upheaval? A practice known in Ghana as ‘Galamsey’. Meaning ‘to gather and sell’ in Ghanaian slang and referring to the practice of illegal gold mining. While not a new phenomenon, the scale and nature of it has changed radically in recent years, tragically turbocharging the destruction of our environment. Here, I argue that the newly elected government must address this ecological disaster by criminalising mass destruction of nature, known as ecocide.
Galamsey mine. Credit: Global Initiative Against Transnational Organised Crime.
What does Galamsey involve and why is it so environmentally damaging?
The environmental impacts of Galamsey have always been far greater than legal gold mining. While regular mining usually utilises heavy machinery to dig deep pits, illegal gold mining in Ghana involves digging shallow pits over large areas of land, leading to the degradation of larger areas. Moreover, Galamsey is generally concentrated near bodies of water, where it is easier to find gold, meaning that the risk of water contamination is far higher. But illegal gold mining is a decades-old practice in Ghana, so why is it wreaking so much havoc now?
This is in part due to a perfect storm of economic factors - a domestic economic downturn, rising unemployment, combined with a boom in global gold prices has caused a renewed gold rush in Ghana. But crucially, the worsening environmental impact of Galamsey must also be attributed to the transformation in its extraction methods in recent years.
Historically, the practice largely involved young Ghanaian men engaging in manual labour, using picks and shovels and the extraction of gold through the simple process of panning. But, in recent years, Galamsey has become far more organised and industrialised, in part due to Chinese investment and labour. The use of toxic chemicals like mercury and cyanide to extract the gold has become far more commonplace, and new Chinese technology and machinery has enhanced the exploration of riverbeds, and allowed deforestation to happen on a far larger scale.
These changes in practice have not only made Galamsey far more lucrative and widespread, they have also drastically exacerbated its environmental impact. Mercury, for example, can remain in water for a thousand years and accumulates through the food chain via crops and fish, while the increasingly widespread disruption of riverbed soil has polluted rivers.
Water pollution in Ghana is reportedly now seven times higher than usual and the Pra, Ankobra, Birim and Offin rivers are heavily polluted with deadly chemicals, severely affecting local communities’ access to water and the health of local ecosystems. With climate change already threatening Ghana’s water supply, this breakdown in water quality is particularly catastrophic.
Polluted river in Ghana. Credit: WaterAid/ Nana Kofi Acquah
Meanwhile, Ghana’s precious ecosystems have suffered. 34 of the country’s nature reserves and thousands of hectares of forest cover have been damaged. Additionally, Galamsey has resulted in the clearing of less damaging forms of land use like cocoa farms, which also represent a significant source of income for many Ghanaians. Land is not only cleared, but also suffers long term degradation due to Galamsey, potentially impeding the future safe cultivation of the land.
Failing to tackle the crisis
The Rapid Response Unit of the Forestry Commission receives training for anti-Galamsey operations. Credit: Forestry Commission Ghana.
Despite the government’s promise to end the practice on its election in 2017, little has been done to genuinely address the crisis. In response to protests and the threat of a nationwide shutdown in recent months, the government was forced to declare measures to combat Galamsey; it repealed a 2022 Directive that had permitted mining in forest reserves and introduced a directive to boost anti-Galamsey efforts through military intervention.
However, in elections this month, the government was voted out, amid national fury at the ecological disaster that it has presided over and a sense of injustice at the targeting of ordinary Galamsey labourers, in contrast to the impunity for those in senior positions of power.
Ecocide: an effective deterrent
There is an exciting growing global movement that aims to make it a criminal offence to cause mass harm to nature. This crime is known as ecocide and progress is being made all over the world towards introducing it, both at the international and domestic levels.
Ecocide is already a crime in multiple national jurisdictions, such as Ukraine, Belgium and Chile. At the international level, a historic proposal to make ecocide fifth international crime was recently formally submitted to the International Criminal Court by three Pacific Island states, a proposal that is now also supported by the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
The Republic of Vanuatu’s Special Envoy for Climate Change and the Environment, Ralph Regenvanu, discusses the country’s proposal to make ecocide an international crime at an official side event to the 23rd Assembly of States Parties to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court. Credit: Patricia Willocq photography.
Currently, it is illegal in Ghana to mine without licenses, but sporadic government enforcement against illegal mining has failed to make a dent in the industry. What makes ecocide law different from existing legislation is that it focuses on the level of environmental harm inflicted. In particular, it seeks to hold those in the most senior positions of power accountable. This creates a particularly strong deterrent effect as it is principally those in senior positions of responsibility who most fear criminal sanctions and who have the power to change course and adopt more sustainable practices.
Cracking down on Galamsey labourers, as Ghana currently does, is a massive undertaking and a resource drain given the huge number of workers. It is also fundamentally unfair as it targets the poorest members of society who earn the least and risk the most through their involvement in the industry. From an environmental perspective, it is futile as it fails to hold those orchestrating the industry accountable and does not deter the practice of Galamsey more widely.
An additional benefit of ecocide law is that it would keep legal mining practices under control too. The activities of big mining firms lead to water pollution because they neglect the environmental hazards caused by irresponsible and unethical mining practices. These practices should not go unpunished simply because the perpetrators have been granted licenses.
Time for action
With a new government elected in Ghana, there is now an opportunity to change the calamitous course on which we have found ourselves. We must criminalise ecocide here, and support international efforts to secure an international crime of ecocide, to introduce genuine accountability for those orchestrating Galamsey, who are responsible for decimating our environment. The Green Republic Project is ready to help champion the cause of ecocide law and I call on all well-meaning Ghanaians to do so to help safeguard the future of Ghana.