The Arrest of #StopGalamsey Protesters Calls Ghana’s Democratic Process Into Question

“Because they published that injunction, a lot of people were put off by the protests,” Prince Ganaku, an attorney with the Lawyers for Protest Defence (a group of lawyers providing pro bono legal services to unlawfully arrested protesters), tells OkayAfrica, “They were scared, they didn’t want to come and the police maintained heavy visibility around the protest site.”

Even though the protests were sparsely attended — similar demonstrations last year saw hundreds of young Ghanaians in attendance — the three-day event went on as planned. But as Ghanaians took to the streets chanting for change and raising placards decrying the government’s management of illegal mining — which has greatly contaminated Ghanaian rivers and has been linked to various illnesses and birth defects — the police began arresting them. As the police spokesperson Grace Ansah-Akorfi confirmed in a statement, 42 people were arrested at the protest grounds on Sunday. The statement alleged that the protesters had “assembled unlawfully, and attacked police officers who were performing their lawful duties.”

But the view from the ground is a lot different from what has been reported. Ghanaians say that not all of the people arrested were protesters, some of them were simply bystanders. Many of those arrested were denied bail after they were arraigned in court on charges of assault on a public officer, unlawful assembly, offensive conduct and damage of property.

“The police prevented us (their lawyers) and their family members from seeing them,” Godslove, another lawyer with the Lawyers for Protest Defence, who only offered his first name for safety reasons, says. “So a lot of them were not seen by their families until they were arraigned before court today.”

“It’s clear that this is a tactic to suppress any will the people have to embark on protests to voice out their concerns,” Godslove adds. “This is not the first time this has happened under this government. It’s a very unfortunate situation that is a violation of the freedom of assembly and freedom of expression, not to mention the right to a lawyer.”

A dangerous existence

For many Ghanaians, the government hasn’t shown enough proactiveness as it pertains to curbing illegal mining operations in the country. Despite setting up committees, deploying military outfits, and confiscating mining equipment, the issue has persisted, calling into question the government’s commitment to tackling this problem.

With the use of heavy machinery (including bulldozers and excavators) and unregulated activities, farmlands, forestry and water bodies are being greatly affected. Some communities in Ghana are already experiencing water shortages due to the lack of treatable raw water. In a report released in September, Ghana Water Limited stated that it is currently recording an average turbidity level of 14,000 NTU, compared to the 2,000 NTU required for sufficient water treatment. The report also found that pollution of the Pra River has also contributed to the water shortage. Experts have reported that Ghana could be forced to import water by 2030, a reality that would further decimate its already fragile economy.

As Enoch Randy Aikins notes in a piece published by the Institute for Security Studies, “Combating galamsey must go beyond talking and setting up committees. All mining activities around water bodies and forest reserves should be banned. The law allowing the president to grant executive approval for mining in forest reserves should be revoked. The president should also deal with offenders in his party and government, and dismiss all district chief executives responsible for areas where galamsey is taking place.”

For Ganaku, the arrest of protesters fighting to save the country’s natural resources is a sign of moral and ethical regression. “The idea that persons who go out to protest the destruction of their water bodies, the destruction of [their] forest, and the destruction of their land, will be arrested and detained without bail, without access to their legal counsel, and against all established principles of law and conventional wisdom, is astounding,” he says.

“The behavior of the police is reminiscent of the days of military rule, where human rights were treated as a mere suggestion, which the authorities could be gently prevailed upon to recognize. If you had told me that this behavior of the police would receive the express endorsement of the judiciary, in a country that has long prided itself on being the bastion of democracy in Sub-Saharan Africa, I wouldn’t believe it.”