The University of Ghana has rolled out an Anti-Galamsey initiative aimed at addressing the escalating concerns over illegal mining activities in the country.
The initiative launched under the theme, “Sharing Galamsey Research Findings and Advocating for Action,” seeks to disseminate crucial research findings and promote advocacy efforts to combat the detrimental effects of galamsey in Ghana.
The event, which took place at the UG Staff Resource Centre, featured insightful discussions on previously proposed solutions and explored a new strategy to tackling this pressing problem.
In an interview with Univers News, the principal investigator of the project Prof. Gladys Ansah Nyarko highlighted that the project aims to introduce an alternative strategy for addressing the Galamsey crisis in Ghana, contrasting it with the government’s more confrontational approach, which often stigmatizes individuals involved in the practice
“The project is to provide an alternative approach to addressing Galamsey problems. The government approach and other approaches have been largely framed in a war discourse that is confrontational. In a war discourse, people are set up against other people. They see each other as an enemy and opponent, and we believe that these things make finding lasting solutions difficult. The war discourse builds resistance. The weaker party in the war builds resentment towards the stronger party and builds resistance, and the stronger party sees the weaker party as recalcitrant and not a party to work with. We are proposing a “crisis” approach where everybody is involved in finding solutions. This approach is collaborative and not combative.”
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Story by: Wonder Mansah
