Chairman Wontumi has been jailed 20 years for galamsey. His excavators have been seized and forfeited to the State. The court has spoken.
But drive from Kumasi to Obuasi today. Drive from Nkawkaw to Anyinam. Drive from Bibiani to Sefwi Wiawso. Drive from Sunyani to Berekum.
You will see them. Lowbeds carrying excavators bigger than houses, moving in broad daylight. You will see fuel tankers going into the bush where there is no filling station. You will see changfans sitting on rivers like the Pra, Offin, Birim, Ankobra, turning brown water into milky water.
Ghanaians are asking one question after the Wontumi judgment: If Wontumi can be jailed, where are the other Wontumis? Where are the kingpins?
GALAMSEY IS NO LONGER A SECRET
Galamsey used to be hidden. Now it is visible.
In Ashanti Region, Manso Adubia, Manso Nkwanta, Atwima Mponua, Obuasi, Amansie – entire valleys have been turned into desert.
In Eastern Region, Anyinam, Osino, Akyem Mouso, Bunso, the Birim River that used to be a source of drinking water for Kyebi and surrounding areas is now undrinkable. Ghana Water Company has shut down treatment plants there three times this year.
In Western Region, Nzema, Ellembelle, Tarkwa, Wassa Akropong, forest reserves are gone.
In Western North, the same Samreboi where Akonta was caught, the menace continues.
In Ahafo and Bono and Bono East, Goaso, Hwidiem, Banda, the story is the same.
The people doing this are not boys with shovels. Galamsey today needs capital. One excavator is GH¢800,000 to GH¢1.2 million. A washing plant is GH¢300,000. A lowbed hire is GH¢10,000 per trip. The fuel for one week is more than a teacher’s annual salary.
The boys holding the pickaxe cannot afford that. Someone is financing it. Those are the kingpins. The financiers, the concession owners who lease out like Wontumi did, the chiefs who take money to allow entry, the big men who import the machines and clear them at the port as “agricultural equipment.”
WHY ARE THE KINGPINS NOT ARRESTED?
Four reasons, and Ghanaians know them.
1. The Kingpin Never Enters the Pit: The real financier sits in Accra, Kumasi, or Takoradi. He never goes to the site. He sends a boy called “Chairman” or “Commander” to manage. When police come, they arrest the boys. The boys go to court, say they are unemployed and were paid GH¢200 a day. They get 2 years. The financier brings new boys next week.
The Wontumi case broke this pattern because the judge traced ownership – from the concession paper to the director. That must become the norm. Follow the paper, not the pickaxe.
2. The Excavator Moves, But No One Asks: Every Ghanaian sees excavators on our roads. Every police barrier sees them. An excavator cannot hide like tramadol. It is 20 feet long. It needs a lowbed. It needs police escort sometimes.
The question is simple: When a lowbed carrying a brand new excavator passes the police checkpoint at Asankare or Asamankese at 2am heading to a forest reserve, does the police ask: Where is your Minerals Commission permit? Where is your EPA permit? Where are you taking this machine to?
If we start asking that question at the road, half of galamsey will stop.
3. The Chief and the DCE Dilemma: In many districts, the kingpin is protected because he is the one who funds funerals, pays for community lights, and supports the chief. The DCE knows, the Police Commander knows, the Minerals Commission officer knows. But who will arrest the man who sponsored the last festival?
Until we protect whistleblowers in these communities, the kingpin will remain invisible.
4. Selective Justice Will Kill the Fight: This is the biggest danger after Wontumi’s jailing. If Ghanaians feel that only one party’s kingpin or only small kingpins are arrested while bigger ones who import 100 excavators are walking free, they will call it witch-hunting, not law enforcement.
Justice must be like rain – it must fall on every roof.
WHAT GHANA MUST DO AFTER WONTUMI
If the 20-year sentence must mean something, it cannot end with Wontumi.
A. Publish the List of All Concessions: Minerals Commission must publish online every valid small-scale and large-scale concession with GPS coordinates, so every chief and citizen can know if the machine in his backyard is legal or illegal.
B. Seize Machines on Sight, Not Just in Court: Under Act 995, any equipment used in illegal mining must be seized and forfeited. The police and Forestry Commission should not wait for conviction to seize. Impound the excavator at the barrier. Let the owner come to court to prove it was for legal work.
C. Charge the Financiers, Not Just the Labourers: Use the Wontumi precedent – lift the corporate veil. Charge directors, charge chiefs who collect, charge the importer of the machine. When the bank account behind galamsey is frozen, galamsey will stop.
D. Same Law for Ashanti, Eastern, Western, Brong: If galamsey in Samreboi gets 20 years, galamsey in Manso, Anyinam, Tarkwa, Goaso must get the same. There cannot be Ashanti galamsey and Western galamsey. It is all Ghana galamsey.
Chairman Wontumi is in Nsawam. But his case has opened the eyes of Ghanaians. They are no longer looking at the boys in the pit. They are looking at the lowbeds on the road. They are looking at the rivers. They are asking:
We have jailed one kingpin. Where are the rest?
If the State can answer that question with arrests, Wontumi’s 20 years will be remembered as the turning point. If not, it will be remembered as one man sacrificed while the excavators kept moving.
Alexander Afriyie, supervising editor, ghanacrimereport.com and ghanatalk.com