Operation
Vanguard Saviours Of Our Environment- Our National Heroes
By Mawutodzi Kodzo
Abissath
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| Ministers and Security Chiefs (seated) in group photo with Operation Vanguard Contingents |
The
wisdom of our ancestors is reflected in this popular proverb: “When you kill a
snake, you must cut off the head at once!”
How
beautiful and wonderful is nature! Each dawn, when you stand with your back
towards the West, you behold the golden sun rising from the geographical East. As the sun emerges gently, its rays smile at
you with Life, Light and Love (LLL). Like the Creator, the sun doesn’t discriminate
against any creature or being. Oceans, rivers, forests, flowers, beasts, birds,
butterflies, rocks, and all other minerals that dwell in the belly of our
Mother Earth, are all placed at the disposal of mankind. Yet, man, out of sheer
greed and avarice, takes nature for granted.
In Ghana, our land is even endowed with more
blessings than some other nations. However, because we think we are hungry, we take
delight in vicious destruction of our environment. In the process, we are
devastating our forests, ravaging our farmlands, polluting our rivers and
contaminating our water bodies in the name of galamsey or illegal mining. If
our choice as a people is to destroy our blessings of nature, then why don’t we
invite Hurricane IRMA to come and do that job for us? Look at the catastrophic
havoc of natural disasters in places like Sierra Leone, the US, Cuba and the Caribbean
etc.
The
object of this article is to salute and express national appreciation to our
compatriots who are assigned to undertake the Operation Vanguard ventures. I
say ventures because theirs is a risky job indeed. Their very lives are at
stake. Some achievements they are reported to have chalked up so far merit
commendation, even though they still have a lot more to do.
It
was exactly on Monday, July 31, 2017 that Government commissioned a 400-member
military cum police friendly contingents to combat illegal mining across the
three most galamsey ravaged zones in the country. These are Ashanti, Eastern
and Western Regions. Earlier, on April 4, 2017, thanks to the launch of the Media
Coalition against galamsey, spearheaded by the Graphic Communications Group
Limited (GCGL), the conscience of the nation was stirred to the environmental
havoc galamsey was causing to rivers and water bodies in the country. President
Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo then vowed to eliminate galamsey menace to preserve
our national heritage, even at the peril of his government.
Success story of
the Operation Vanguard so far
On
Tuesday, September 5, 2017, a high-powered delegation led by Ghana’s Hon. Defence
Minister, Dominic Nituwul, including the Hon. Interior Minister, Ambrose Dery,
the Chief of Defence Staff, Lt Gen Obed Akwa and other security chiefs, paid a
working visit to the Operation Vanguard officers to ascertain at firsthand,
some of their achievements and challenges confronting them on the grounds. The working
visit took them to Tarkwa in the Western, Obuasi in the Ashanti and Osino in
the Eastern Regions respectively.
The
Operation Vanguard Commander, Colonel William Agyapong, in his briefing, told
the security authorities that the galamsey operators had diverted the course of
many rivers that no longer flow normally for the people to get water to drink.
In fact, the Commander made a cogent point to the effect that galamsey
operations had led to virtual extermination of aquatic life. So much so that, some
children of today in galamsey communities may not know that fish do live in
rivers, (fresh fish). Is this situation not pathetic?
The
Commander further reported that some of the illegal miners were still operating
in deep waters. Such ‘amphibian’ illegal miners,
he said, were using canoes for the galamsey operations. As a result, they were
able to ‘out-smart’ some members of the task force who could not swim to escape
arrest. Col Agyapong, therefore, appealed to Government to quickly deploy on
board personnel from the Marine Police and the Ghana Navy to protect water
bodies and consolidate the gains so far achieved by Operation Vanguard
patriotic compatriots.
Generally,
Nituwul delegation was not only satisfied but also highly impressed by the performance
of the Operation Vanguard officers so far. Apart from the operational
commander’s briefing, it was observed that gradually but steadily, most chiefs
and residents of galamsey-devastated communities are warming up towards the
Vanguard environmental protectors. People are gaining trust and confidence that
the soldiers and police officers are not there to brutalise them but to protect
them and safeguard their own future environmentally and economically.
Media
reports had it that some opinion leaders including Members of Parliament,
chiefs, assembly members and religious leaders in the galamsey communities were
full of praise to the Operation Vanguard officers. For example, in Obuasi, a
Member of Parliament, Hon. Dr Boakye Yiadom, (MP) is reported to have expressed
satisfaction about the performance of the vanguards in his constituency. “Our
town is stable now. Not only because they are helping in curbing the galamsey
menace, but have also ensured that security in Obuasi is tightened,” he noted.
According
to Dr Yiadom, his own assessment indicates that, the deployment of the military
cum police to the illegal mining zones has sent a strong signal to those
destroying the environment and polluting water bodies that government is committed
to ending galamsey once and for all. The MP pointed out that the Operation
Vanguard is killing two birds with one stone. All other criminals, who
hitherto, have been terrorizing residents of Obuasi, have evaporated into thin
air, the MP opined.
Within
a relatively short span of seven weeks, since the Operation Vanguard action took
off, some of their achievements cannot be quantified in real terms. The very
first achievement this writer observed was that within the first two weeks of
their operations, some of the muddy rivers have been transformed and the Ghana
Water Company announced publicly that they were now able to treat water at
minimised cost as compare to previously.
Again,
when the President embarked on regional tours to Western and Central Regions in
August, 2017, some chiefs and communities leaders including women, especially in
the Central Region, where the task force was not originally deployed, appealed
to the Present to dispatch Operation Vanguard saviours to their region too. The
people reported to the President that some illegal miners were operating deep
in forest reserves and still polluting rivers in their region, despite the ban
imposed by the Lands and Natural Resources Minister, Mr. Peter Amewu, some
months back. The popular request made to the President was an indication that
the Operation Vanguard venture was achieving its stated objectives.
Special Galamsey
Lands and Rivers Restoration Fund
It
is commendable to learn that the Defence Minister and his delegation donated an
amount of GHc 34,000 on behalf of Government to serve as incentive to boost the
morale of the Operation Vanguard contingents in the field. This is fantastic!
However, since Government’s intention is to
maintain the Operation Vanguard on the grounds for
only God knows how long; for sustainability sake, and in view of the fact that
the work of the military and police officers is in the
interest of our national heritage, it is suggested that Government, through the
Inter-Ministerial Anti-Galamsey Task Force, chaired by the Minister for
Environment, Science and Technology, Professor Kwabena Frimpong-Boateng, should
set up a special Fund.
The
Fund could be known as Galamsey Lands and Rivers Restoration Fund
(GLRRF). Individuals and corporate bodies including the mighty mining
companies, some of whom are equally guilty in one way or another of
environmental pollution, can contribute to this Fund. The Fund should not only be
used for the motivation of Operation Vanguard compatriots, but also for the land
reclamation and tree planting project for environmental sustainability of the
country.
Further,
I wish to humbly suggest that, with the constitutional powers vested in the
President of the Republic as the Commander-in-chief of the Ghana Armed Forces,
the President must consider the creation of one highest national award like the
Star of the Volta. This award could be designated as the National Environment Heritage Heroes
Award (NEHHA) to be conferred on each of the 400 contingents of the
Operation Vanguard at the end of their mission. This should be done in
recognition of their sacrifices for the sake of posterity!
