Ghanaian actor and educationist, Adjetey Anang has stated that he would love to see Sarkodie record a song to champion an end to illegal mining, otherwise called galamsey.
The West African movie star explained Sarkodie has a powerful influence especially because “of the dialect he uses” in music.
To fight galamsey, “I’d love to see my guy, Sarkodie, do a song,” Anang fondly said, with perceptible cheer in his voice.
Rap heavyweight Sarkodie’s use of the Twi dialect of the Akan language, Anang remarked “has wide reach”.
While gold mining and export is a major contributor to Ghana’s economy, illegal mining (galamsey) continues to destroy farmlands and forest covers. According to the Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD), galamsey threatens the very “foundations” of cocoa farming and production, for instance.
COCOBOD, also, noted in its recent statement the urgent need to address the menace to avert economic hardship via the European Union Deforestation Regulation which comes into effect in January 2025.
Among other repercussions, galamsey has poisoned the nation’s water bodies impacting potable water production by the Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL).
University of Media, Arts & Communications (UniMAC) lecturer, Adjetey Anang noted seeing the state of Ghana’s rivers breaks his heart. He also underscored how storytelling through different art forms, especially film, could effectively address the galamsey disaster.
The multiple award-winning actor starred in the movie Galamsey: Enemies No Be God, directed by Benjamin Sarpong.
Anang’s latest film offering is in collaboration with Lynx Entertainment, titled Pawn. He has been featured in many Ghanaian movies, including ‘Deadly Voyage’, ‘A Sting in a Tale’, ‘The Perfect Picture’, and others. He has also featured in a Dutch movie titled Slavery.
Actor Pleads on Behalf of Remanded Democracy Hub Protesters
Although enthusiastic about law enforcement, Adjetey Anang asked for mercy for citizens arrested during the Democracy Hub protests.
On September 17, Democracy Hub organized a three-day demonstration to mount pressure on the government to stop galamsey and avert its devastating impact on water bodies and forest reserves.
However, about 40 of the protesters were remanded in police and prison custody for allegedly committing various offenses during the protest. This has caused agitation among the citizenry, with some calling on the police to free the protesters.
Others also called out celebrities like Sarkodie, Shatta Wale, and Stonebwoy for keeping quiet over the unfortunate incident.
Adjetey Anang’s comment buttresses the notion that creatives can use their various works to influence society in various ways.
“They were a group of frustrated people, concerned citizens, who wanted to let governance know that galamsey has to be stopped. And if in the cause of that they did a few things to break the law, yes, the law can have its due way because we can’t say that just because they were addressing a sensitive topic, even if they break the law, we should turn a blind eye to that.”
Adjetey Anang
The University of Media, Arts & Communications (UniMAC) lecturer added: “I’m hoping they’ve not broken any law but the law, I’d appeal, should be a bit lenient to these people [if they have].”
The Adjetey Anang: A Story of Faith, Imperfection & Resilience author argued there were bigger fish to fry compared to the remanded citizens from the anti-illegal mining (galamsey) Democracy Hub protest of September 21 to 23, 2024.
The protesters, “representing a whole lot of people,” were only “trying to do something” to challenge authorities to address a national menace, he emphasised. “At the end of the day, the people who are causing much more harm are not behind bars,” he said.
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