Thousands demonstrate in Accra against illegal mining in Ghana

Thousands of demonstrators filled the streets of Ghana’s capital, calling for an end to illegal mining in the country, also known as ‘Galamsey’.

Some in the crowd insisted that they would continue to pressure the government until it addresses the issue, and its damaging impact on the environment.

‘My motivation is to see that illegal mining stops in Ghana. We need to keep taking action, we need to keep going on strikes, we need to keep protesting to catch their attention, because they are acting like they haven’t seen it but we know they have,’ said one attendee.

The protest took place from Thursday to Saturday. Unlike a previous demonstration in September organised by pressure group Democracy Hub, police did not interfere with the protest.

Determined to push the government to take action, the Catholic church is gearing up for a peaceful demonstration against illegal mining on Friday, while the country’s labour unions are set to declare a nationwide strike on Thursday.

‘This attitude of the government is not surprising because we’ve had some of the members of government say blatantly that they are not stopping now they are not stopping anytime now. All it means is that it affirms the stance and the president who went to beg the labour union. The labour union need to understand this that the lives of Ghanaians and they themselves is threatened by this illegal activity,’ said another participant.

Protesters were also urging the government to free those who were arrested during a previous demonstration against illegal mining organised by Democracy Hub.

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