The University Teachers Association of Ghana (UTAG) has reached the deadline for its ultimatum to the government, demanding immediate action against illegal mining, commonly known as “Galamsey.”
Despite issuing a firm warning on September 9, 2024, UTAG’s call for urgent measures to combat this environmental crisis has been met with silence from the government.
Speaking to Univers News on September 30, 2024, National Vice President of UTAG, Prof. Victor Mongre, expressed the association’s frustration, confirming that UTAG will meet with Organized Labour on Tuesday, October 1, 2024, to decide its next steps. Depending on the outcome of the meeting, UTAG will announce whether it will align with Organized Labour’s position or take independent action.
“Yes as we said our plans are still on. Organised labour is going to meet tomorrow. We will definitely attend that meeting and listen to what organised labour is going to say and then based on that we will also take our steps whether to go by what organised labour is going to say or if we will go in a different direction.”
He explained that while UTAG initially called for a ban on Galamsey, the government clarified that it is impossible to ban something that is already illegal.
”Our request is that there should be a ban on galamsey but somehow, government has come to explain that you cannot say you should put a ban on something that is already illegal. So the call for a ban is misplaced but I mean, you know what we’re asking for. What we are asking for is a stop to the galamsey.”
Prof. Mongre reiterated that UTAG’s
UTAG’s key demand remains for the government to take stronger, more effective action to stop Galamsey operations, which continue to devastate Ghana’s rivers and forests.
The association has also called for the repeal of laws allowing mining in forest reserves and urged stricter enforcement to protect the nation’s natural resources
”We are asking that it should be stopped or it should be halted. We also made mention that if there can be a repeal of the law or the act that allows for mining in the forest areas, so those are some of the things that we would like to see. We are aware that the government have set up a sectorial committee which has already met Organized Labour and all of that but we still want more. We still want that, what they are doing should be more tangible. It should be biting enough to see that yes we can see the effect or the outcome that we want to really have.”
In addition to UTAG’s demands, Prof. Mongre also voiced concerns over the recent arrests of Democracy Hub protesters advocating for stronger anti-Galamsey measures.
He called for the release of the detained activists, noting the legal requirement that they should either be granted bail or charged within 48 hours.
”I mean if they have done something that is not right, yes, according to the law it’s good, that they should be arrested but then again the law stipulates that you cannot keep someone beyond 48 hours without either giving the person bail or sending the person to the courts. All of that and detaining them for more than a week now or so”
“I think that it is just in the right direction for us to call for those people to be released or at least they should be put on bail according to whatever charges the police have on them. But they should not be keeping them beyond what has been stipulated in the law.”
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Story by: Joycelyn Glory | univers.ug.edu.gh
