Writing from the “third person” perspective has been argued as the best way for writers to discuss thorny issues without overly seeming biased.
There is always bias when addressing controversial issues and in Ghana, there is no bigger thorny issue at this point than the fight against illegal mining in Ghana that is popularly known as Galamsey.
So thorny this issue is that the writer of this piece has to break his rule to always write from a third person perspective because writing from a third person perspective doesn’t cut it.
On top of that, if the writer of this piece is calling for prominent individuals to take a stance on Galamsey, it is only right the writer does same.
As such, I must say that the world has developed and evolved over the years for an issue like the fight against Galamsey to be restricted just to politics and the environment.
Due to the interlinked nature of the world in the 21st century, Galamsey also has economic ramifications and security ones too.
Looking at the rate galamsey operators keep arming themselves as they resist attempts to drive them out of some of Ghana’s forest reserves, there is a significant security threat through turf wars with heavily armed individuals battling over gold-rich turfs.
For a mild spoken individual, Black Stars captain Thomas Partey’s injury or “rest” depending on the spectrum you are looking from, has avoided walking into a sea storm of controversy by missing out on Ghana’s 2025 AFCON qualification doubleheader against Sudan.
The Arsenal man’s absence isn’t just merely missing out on the immense pressure to win at least one of the two games to get Ghana’s flailing qualification chances back on track. However, he missed out on walking into a situation that would require him to speak out on the Galamsey menace be it for or against it because he is a big player and the captain of no mean an institution than the Black Stars.
No matter how mildly spoken Partey is, it isn’t outlandish to call on him to speak on the Galamsey issue considering he knelt with his Arsenal teammates in solidarity in the fight against racism during the 2020-2021 season and 2021-2022 season in the EPL.
Jordan Ayew, then with Crystal Palace, and Mohammed Salisu, then with Southampton, did same though they had the right to not kneel. Wilfred Zaha’s belief that more needed to be done to beat out racism, had him refuse to kneel with his teammates.
Inaki Williams isn’t your “typical” Ghanaian as he was born in Spain and grew up there but after seeing him voice his displeasure over racism over the years, it is fair to quiz him over his silence on Galamsey even if he isn’t as typical a Ghanaian like yours truly.
If Ghanaian players who are quite prominent to some solid extent speak on world social issues, why can’t they do same or even better to speak on an issue that affects the livelihood of an entire nation and not just a group of people with a different skin pigment.
Kylian Mbappe spoke on the recently held French elections and indicated what it meant to not have right wing anti-immigration ideals grow in French politics and society at large.
Former England manager Gareth Southgate had to constantly address issues connected to racism as more Black English players played prominent roles in his team. The NBA’s Milwaukee Bucks boycotted a game as a way of protesting against racism and so many other sports related actions have taken place over several years to address social issues.
As such, when a presser to announce Black Stars player call-ups, including some who are vocal on social issues in the past like Inaki Williams, takes place in Accra-the epicenter of anti Galamsey protests, around the same time protests were taking place, it was only right I asked Black Stars head coach Otto Addo and Henry Asante Twum (GFA Communications Director) on the team’s and the GFA stance on this issue.
The answers I got were diplomatic and in Addo’s case in particular, was that of an old school football coach who is all about football and nothing else as he urged all to focus on the Sudan game and talk about Galamsey issues after the game.
With the campaign against galamsey ramping up, and how vocal some Black Stars players are on social issues, Citi Sports’ @YawMintYM sought the stance of Otto Addo and the GFA, through Comms Director, Henry Asante-Twum, on players joining the crusade.#CitiSports #StopGalamseyNow pic.twitter.com/bf73V21LWT
— Citi Sports (@CitiSportsGHA) October 4, 2024
For a group that has become larger than life since making it to the 2006 FIFA World Cup and toppling the Czech Republic to being a penalty kick away from becoming Africa’s first semifinalist at the competition, getting such an answer from its leader was quite disappointing.
Some may argue I am being harsh on Otto Addo but I’m not because he all of people knows what it means to be the head coach of the Black Stars and all the expectations that come with it especially as a former player who was part of the famous 2006 FIFA World Cup group.
Football by the Black Stars have been used for “political” gains before several times and the time has come for the same tool to be used for other political “gains” like the ones that will go a long way to help fight the menace.
Former GFA Executive Council Member, Dr. Tony Aubynn, once described the Black Stars in an interview I had with him as the “thermometers” to Ghanaians’ hearts since the country has an overall feeling of calm around it while it has the direct opposite with an atmosphere of anger and disappointment around it when the Black Stars fail as they have in the past two AFCON editions.
The time has come for Otto Addo, the Black Stars and the GFA to do more than stick to football. These individuals and institutions might have their personal reservations about indulging in issues outside football but Galamsey is not one of those issues where sitting on the fence is an option.
Football is a powerful tool; so powerful a tool, that even soldiers fighting on opposite sides in a World War stopped to play a game together.
Football has been used to heal countries scarred by wars just like Ghana’s neighbour, Cote D’Ivoire. Led by its charismatic leader, Didier Drogba, the Elephants of Cote D’Ivoire helped beat down a civil war that almost tore apart the West African nation.
In Galamsey, Ghana is at war and needs its soldiers-the Black Stars- to stand up, be counted and win and deciding to stick to sports is just not enough.
