By Franklin ASARE-DONKOH
The leadership and members of the Private Newspapers and Online News Publishers Association of Ghana (PRINPAG) are set to embark on a nationwide campaign dubbed “Naming and Shaming” Campaign to expose political actors, individuals, and institutions involved in illegal mining (galamsey).
The campaign according to PRINPAG is to curb the galamsey menace, which has resulted in widespread destruction of water bodies, forest reserves, and farmlands across the country.
PRINPAG in a statement, stated that as a demonstration of the group’s resolve to help curb the ongoing menace, PRINPAG members will in the coming days and weeks actively engage in a “naming and shaming” campaign to expose all those who are involved in illegal mining activities in the country, regardless of their position or influence in society.
“This is a necessary step to ensure accountability and to show that, no one is above the law.
While we fully support the national effort to help curb this menace, which has become a canker hanging around our necks, the national leadership of PRINPAG is also issuing a stern warning to any member found to be directly involved in galamsey, as such individuals will be expelled from the Association in accordance with our Constitution.
We also call on state institutions to act responsibly in mitigating environmental destruction. We urge the strict enforcement of laws that govern environmental sustainability, economic development, and growth. Additionally, technology should be leveraged to address the environmental challenges posed by certain investment activities.” Portions of the statement read.
Below is an unedited version of the PRINPAG PRESS RELEASE
PRINPAG Condemns Environmental Destruction Caused by Galamsey Activities and Rallies Members to Support Efforts to Halt the Menace
The Private Newspapers and Online News Publishers Association of Ghana (PRINPAG) strongly condemns the rampant and irresponsible destruction of our nation’s water bodies, forest cover, and environment in the name of illegal mining (galamsey) for monetary gains. PRINPAG sees this wanton environmental devastation, driven by greed, as a grave threat to the well-being of the Ghanaian people and the future of our country.
In view of the seriousness and the devastating nature of the menace, the leadership of PRINPAG is calling on all its members to join the national crusade against galamsey activities, which can serve as a recipe for disaster for us as a country if not nipped in the bud now.
We urge our members to take a firm and dispassionate stand against the practice as part of our collective effort to stop this menace, which has become a significant threat to the survival of our communities and the preservation of our natural resources and the environment.
As part of PRINPAG’s commitment to this cause, we are encouraging all our members to expose individuals and groups who are complicit in these illegal activities, we are urging our members to publish the names and pictures of those involved in galamsey on the front pages of their newspapers and to give these prominence on their news websites, holding these social miscreants and deviants accountable to the public.
In order for this agenda to succeed it is crucial that, our members resist any form of influences, whether monetary or otherwise, that could compromise our efforts as accepting such inducements would undermine our contribution to the fight against galamsey, and the collective effort to protect our environment.
We also call on Parliament to demonstrate leadership in this fight, as exemplified by the Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, and to act without partisanship, considering only the long-term welfare of the nation. The leadership of PRINPAG believes that, with unity and focus, Ghana can win this fight against galamsey.
We also call on state institutions to act responsibly in mitigating environmental destruction. We urge the strict enforcement of laws that govern environmental sustainability, economic development, and growth. Additionally, technology should be leveraged to address the environmental challenges posed by certain investment activities.
As a demonstration of our resolve to help curb the on-going menace, PRINPAG members will in the coming days and weeks actively engage in a “naming and shaming” campaign to expose all those who are involved in illegal mining activities in the country, regardless of their position or influence in society. This is a necessary step to ensure accountability and to show that, no one is above the law.
While we fully support the national effort to help curb this menace, which has become a canker hanging around our necks, the national leadership of PRINPAG is also issuing a stern warning to any member found to be directly involved in galamsey, as such individuals will be expelled from the Association in accordance with our Constitution.
Additionally, any member who will be identified to have been financially or materially influenced in an attempt to sabotage the Association’s fight against galamsey will equally face expulsion from PRINPAG after being taken through our disciplinary procedures stated in the Constitution of the Association.
These are the immediate and decisive actions that PRINPAG as an Association of media owners and practitioners, is taking to contribute to the fight against the galamsey menace. These have become necessary and urgent because the leadership of PRINPAG sees the on-going destruction of our environment as a matter of national urgency, and we must all do our part to protect Ghana for future generations.
PRINPAG pledges its support to all activities of the Media Coalition Against Illegal Mining and urges its members across the country to support the efforts of the Coalition to help minimize the effects of the galamsey menace.
The fight is a collective one and PRINPAG pledges the readiness of its members to lend support to the national effort to help curb the menace.
