Honour Farmers by dropping charges against Atronsu5-Executive Director of Eco-Conscious Citizens urges
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Ghana will be marking Farmers’ Day on Friday 5th December. It is a shame that charges against the Atronsu activists, including a cocoa farmer, who were arrested on Farmers’ Day last year for allegedly burning two excavators, which they deny burning, have not been dropped. The upcoming Farmers’ Day is an opportunity to once again remind the Attorney General and the Inspector General of Police of our petition (https://bit.ly/Atronsu5Petition): we respectfully ask that the charges against the #Atronsu5 are dropped and that an investigation is launched into why anti-illegal mining activists are being prosecuted while the illegal miners, who were destroying farmlands and water bodies, walk free.
The Atronsu5 were protecting their farmlands and the Atronsu Stream, the only source of drinking water in the community from irresponsible mining. To the best of our knowledge, no one has been charged with polluting the Atronsu Stream. The Atronsu activists take the view that polluting the once pristine Atronsu Stream is a crime against humanity. The Court case, which they perceive as intimidation, is stressful and a drain on their meagre finances.
At a time when Ghana is on the verge of an ecological catastrophe and faces an existential crisis – with our water bodies poisoned, forests decimated, scientific tests confirming that our food is laced with toxins, Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital reporting a fourfold surge in kidney disease cases, maternal mortality, a rise in birth deformities, 2.5 million peasant farmers at the risk of losing their livelihood, and the destruction of cocoa farms – it is an absolute disgrace that activists who courageously oppose reckless and irresponsible mining are allegedly being targeted and intimidated. It is disappointing that there has been no response to the petitions delivered to the Attorney General (AG) and the Inspector General of Police (IGP). Like Jema Anti-Galamsey Advocacy (JAGA), the Atronsu activists are protecting their landscape from irresponsible mining, but sadly they don’t have a visionary chief, like Jema’s Nana Enoku Annor II and a Community Champion and spiritual leader like Father Dr Joseph Blay. Under their leadership, Jema has successfully resisted all forms of mining, protected their forests and farmlands, kept their water bodies pristine and formed a Farming Cooperative. They are producing organic food free from mercury and other poisons. At at time when a video posted online is doing the rounds, showing illegal miners wantonly destroying a cocoa farm, we must not pay lip service to Farmers Day – let’s honour farmers and those protecting our farmlands. We respectfully call on the AG to drop charges against the Atronsu activists, and the IGP to cause the matter to be investigated. Ghanaians need an explanation as to why there have been no charges against the illegal miners. We must honour our farmers, we cannot eat gold. Awula Serwah |
