Faith leaders in Konongo have called on the government to discourage acts of violence against journalists and activists who have been vocal on the matter of ending illegal mining by bringing preparators to book.

Speaking to the media after an interfaith peace walk against Galamsey, Chairman of the local council of Churches in Konongo, Very Rev Samuel Kwaku Poku charged the government to show commitment to ending the menace by moving swiftly to punish offenders as a deterrent.

“Groups like us cannot arrest people except to advocate and create awareness. If the government is indeed committed to ending Galamsey, then it has to act fast when persons who are committed to helping the fight get attacked” he said.

Figure 1 Faith leaders leading the march through the principal streets of Konongo

He also added that such persons must be given the needed protection where need be to ensure their safety at all times.

This statement follows news that journalist Erastus Asare Donkor of the Multimedia Group and his crew have been manhandled by armed men in a forest in the Asugyama Forest, Sunday.

Narrating the ordeal, Erastus said that he, together with his crew were physically assaulted by armed men while under pressure to delete any footages they had.

“They took our phones. They asked us that we should format everything from our phones. That they want to see everything on our phones. Then I said you can’t do that. Then another round of slaps. Then one was holding a gun behind me and saying that I should format the phone so I should enter my details, my password and other things for him to format it for me” he narrated

“I don’t see anything security about them. They are macho men…holding guns, assault rifles; slapping us left, right, center; punching us with the base. The drone pilot received a lot of punches to the face. So I had no option, I entered my password, it did not go through…because I couldn’t see well. Then I entered the second one and it did not go through and the guy thought I was joking with them, so another round of slaps…” he continued.

Figure 2 Very Rev Samuel Kwaku Poku, Chairman of the Konongo Local Council of Churches addressing the press after the march surrounded by other ministers and the participants

According to him, the police came in after reporting the ordeal but have not made arrests yet. He also observed that while at the site, the armed men were defensive and exchanged words with the police when they came.

“…they [the police] escorted us back to the site to identify the people. And I must say that when we went there, the heavily built men who subjected us to the assault came; all of them. In fact few of them were not part but they came to the site to meet the police people. And we have videos…”

The peace walk, organized by Greenfaith Ghana in collaboration with CYNESA and faith groups in Konongo added their voices to calls on government end Galamsey with immediate effect.

Erastus Asare Donkor is a broadcast journalist with multimedia group whose works on Galamsey have come to the fore in recent time. His daring endeavours into the heart of Galamsey operations and towns affected by same has contributed to having a better appreciation of how far the effects of Galamsey has gone in the country. His work ‘Destruction for Gold, highlighting the forest covers and vegetations depleted as a result of Illegal mining won him the coveted PAV Ansah Ghana Journalist Association Journalist of the Year Award in 2023.

By: Samuel Swanzy-Baffoe

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