When peace keepers Become Executioners: The Fight against Ghana’s Galamsey
By: OWARE Iddrissu 0599467559 The fight against illegal mining is meant to save our rivers, protect our forests, and safeguard the future of Ghana’s children. Instead, it is increasingly leaving behind a trail of blood, fear, and suspicion. While citizens are dying at the mining site by falling into pits, reports of violent clashes between the military and civilians in galamsey-prone communities are no longer whispers. Lives are being lost, families are being shattered, and trust between citizens and the very institutions meant to protect them is collapsing. The military was never designed to be a police service. Soldiers are trained for combat, not community engagement. Deploying soldiers into towns and villages, armed to the teeth, has turned mining communities into battlefields. Each clash leaves behind not only victims but also deep scars of resentment that will last for generations. Ghana cannot be “a land of gold” if people are dying for it. The country cannot profess ...