What Galamsey Is Doing To Our Environment, Drug Addiction Is Doing To Our Youth
Dear Nyaaba,
There are two wars raging in Ghana today—one against our land and one against our children. Both are equally lethal, and if we do not rise with courage and determination, both will bury this nation alive.
Galamsey is not just an economic crime. It is the slow-motion assassination of Mother Ghana. It is the poisoning of our rivers—the Pra, the Ankobra, the Offin, the Birim—rivers that once gave life now turned into flowing graves. It is the devastation of farms, the collapsing of the cocoa industry, and the destruction of the forests that are our shield against a changing climate. With every illegal pit that yawns open, the earth itself groans under the weight of greed. If this continues, Ghana will be a barren wasteland, a scarred memory of what could have been.
But while galamsey destroys our soil and water, another force is destroying the lifeblood of the nation—our youth. Drug addiction has become the galamsey of the soul. Cocaine, tramadol, crack, meth—the names differ, but the story is the same. Bright young men and women, who should be leading the charge into the future, are instead chained to pills and powders, wasting away in the alleys, losing themselves in the fog of substances. Every addict is not just an individual tragedy—it is a stolen doctor, a lost engineer, a vanished leader, a broken future.
These two evils—galamsey and drug addiction—are twin monsters consuming us from both ends. The environment is our body; the youth are our heart. If we lose both, then Ghana itself ceases to exist.
And yet, what have we done? We have danced around the issues, mouthing rights, whispering freedoms, while the land burns and the youth rot. What is the meaning of freedom when a people have no water to drink? What use is liberty when an entire generation lies wasted? These are not normal times, and normal approaches will not save us.
If we must compromise on certain freedoms to win this war, then let us compromise. If extraordinary laws must be passed, let them be passed. If more severe punishments must be enforced, let them bite without apology. We cannot be squeamish when our very survival is at stake.
Let us fight galamsey with unyielding ruthlessness—no sacred cows, no excuses, no appeasement of greedy barons who care nothing for Ghana. And let us declare a national emergency on drug abuse. Flood the country with rehabilitation centers, mount relentless education campaigns, and choke the supply lines with uncompromising law enforcement. Above all, let us speak openly and fearlessly about this plague devouring our children.
We stand today at the edge of an abyss. One path leads to cowardice, compromise, and collapse; the other to courage, sacrifice, and survival. The land is crying. The youth are weeping. Ghana itself is pleading.
The time for whispers is over. The time for polite appeals is past. This is the time for fire, for steel, for action. Galamsey must end. Drug addiction must be crushed. Our land and our children must be saved—whatever the cost.
Your very vexed descendant
The Honourrebel Siriguboy
KASISE RICKY PEPRAH
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