WHERE DO WE KEEP THE GODS? GALAMSEY, SACRED ECOLOGY AND THE CRISIS OF SUSTAINABILITY IN GHANA

Abstract

In Ghana, where rivers are revered as abodes of deities, illegal gold mining (galamsey) is not just an environmental crisis – it is a spiritual catastrophe. This study interrogates the paradox of galamsey’s economic appeal versus its desecration of sacred ecosystems, asking: Where do we keep the gods when their habitats are destroyed? The insatiable desire of man in the search for precious minerals such as gold in the ecosystem has become the craze in the Ghanaian ecology in recent times. The phenomenon Galamsey which literary means gather and sell in recent times has been in competition with the conservation and sustainability of natural reserves especially water bodies in the ecosystem. Considering the sacred nature of these water bodies which are believed to be the haven of the gods and ancestral worship, the livelihood and preserve of these natural resources are a cause for concern. The paper utilised the Afrocentric theory and qualitative paradigm as its methodological stance and used interviews, archival documents as its data collection instruments. The analytical tool used was document analysis. It was revealed that polluted rivers are considered ‘abandoned by the gods’, eroding communal trust in traditional ecological knowledge. Thus, the conservation and sustainability of the environment could be achieved if man sees nature as human as himself. It concludes that for friendly co-existence man must protect and preserve the ecology from its gradual disappearance from the activities of galamsey.