Galamsey Action Group, on Saturday, June 5, 2021, hosted a Q&A session with Evalue-Ajomoro-Gwira MP, Hon. Kofi Arko Nokoe. We had wondered aloud what he was doing about the debilitating Galamsey and Irresponsible mining devastation in his constituency, especially Gwira- Banso, Akango and its environs.

Hon. Nokoe answered all our questions, showing his readiness to join in the efforts head-on. Like how he started his political life (working through the Axim Youth Association (AYA) to tackle problems at the grassroots level, the new MP has already visited the communities in his constituency and now plans to meet with the Municipal Assembly and Paramount Chiefs in the area this June to form a united front to face the issue of Galamsey and environmental degradation in the area.

His hope is that the new MCE, once confirmed, will work together with him so that together, and with the Government and Western Regional Minister's renewed efforts, and his colleague MPs in upstream communities whose activities highly affect the Ankobra river, they can find a sustainable end to this hydra-headed problem.

Members of the Group emphasized the need for the people in the communities to be educated on the risks of mercury poisoning, their right to reject anyone who claims to have a license to mine (if they find that it will destroy their waterbodies and farmland and appealed to him to bring a bill in Parliament to require the media and NCCE to devote time for public education and sensitization. Mr Nokoe, who indicated he was taking copious notes of suggestions and discussion points, also indicated that he acknowledges the lack of jobs and difficulty in movement in many parts of his constituency.

He has noted the expansive rubber plantations in the area and the need to be able to build cottage industries around these to provide jobs to the youth in the area. Agriculture and the creation of cottage industries is also a focus of the Galamsey Action Group's Alternative Livelihoods Program.

The young MP also expressed his readiness to present some of the ideas expressed by the Group in Parliament, and be part of the panel when the Galamsey Action Group presents its Solution proposals to the Office of the President, the various Parliamentary select committees and related groups in the coming weeks.