Corporate Accountability and Public Participation Africa (CAPPA) and nine other rights organisations – among them the Nigerian Blue Community NEWARI, the Network of Water Rights Initiatives – in seven African countries have demanded that the Ghanaian government immediately halt the ongoing poisoning of water bodies, lands, aquatic/marine life and human health by illegal miners, the Peoples Daily reports.
In a statement issued on Sunday under the auspices of the Our Water Our Right Africa Coalition (OWORAC), they solidarized with Ghanaians protesting the devastating impact of illegal mining activities, locally known as galamsey, affirming that access to safe drinking water is an internationally recognised human right.
They warned that the Ghanaian government’s failure to check the problem was resulting in the ongoing poisoning of public health and collapse of the source of livelihood for the many people who live in communities around these water bodies.
