It is sad that in this day and age, one can witness visible ‘territorial acquisition’ (Colonization) of our country- sides by Chinese immigrants, having attained our independence from the British fifty five years ago. How on earth shall we allow such applesauce- despoliation and deforestation of our country sides by Chinese Lumpenproletariats? Who looks after our country-sides?

I feel duty bound as an indigene of Amansie West district to air my views on the Chinese immigrants flagitious activities in the District. I shall begin by posing: Who is responsible for the approbation of the Chinese projects (‘The galamsey’') in our country sides? Obviously someone has to sanction such projects before the Chinese can proceed with their villainous activities. Clearly, then, we have to hold some people accountable for such rigmarole. The question then is who are the likely endorsers of the Chinese tomfooleries in our country-sides? Could it be the Ghana Mineral Commission, our greedy chiefs or the obnoxious government officials-Assembly men and the District Chief Executives?

Recently, the indigenes of my hometown, Domi-Keniago in Amansie West district, turned to a radio station in Kumasi to air their grievances on the unscrupulous activities of the Chinese gold diggers. This is following unsuccessful petitions to the powers that be to circumscribe the unscrupulous activities of the Chinese gold diggers. In the aforesaid programme, the natives complained of deforestation and pollution of their sources of drinking water by the Chinese gold diggers. The indigenes further accentuated the shenanigans and infamous activities of the Chinese immigrants which have resulted in death traps (pit falls). According to the people of Domi-Keniago, there is no quality of life following the arrival of the Chinese gold diggers.”It is a complete nightmare”, they opined.

It is with regret to affirm that the people of my hometown, Domi-Keniago, have no leadership to look up to for directions. That is, the men and women who are spearheading the affairs of the district are dragging their feet on the issue. You see, accountability is one of the hallmarks of democracy, but disappointingly, accountability (the quintessence of democracy) is missing from democratic Ghana. For instance, in the aforesaid radio programme, the debonair radio presenter tried to contact the chief of Domi-Keniago to find out who permitted such hooey, but to no avail, as the chief refused to answer his phone. Though, the radio presenter managed to speak to a representative of the Ghana Mineral Commission and the District Chief Executive, unfortunately, both denied any knowledge of the activities of the Chinese immigrants in Domi-Keniago.

The question again then is who should be held accountable for authorization of the Chinese activities in Domi-Keniago? To be quite honest, it is not surprising that the same people who probably authorised such piffle act are not speaking up. In a nutshell, they think they are not accountable to anyone. Not even the president of the nation. This is because; the president will not hold such people who cannot ‘see their buttocks from their elbows’ accountable. To put it bluntly, there is no accountability in our democratic dispensation.

It is important to note that a true leadership is not one that exercises extreme power and possession, but a true leadership is the one which provides vision, motivation and above all builds relationship with its subordinates. In Ghana, our leaders hold the view that they are not accountable to anyone, and consequently tend to do what they like.

Do you blame them? Actually, I do not blame them for exercising such ultra vires, because Ghanaians do not hold leadership accountable regardless of endless dereliction of duty, that is, we do not repudiate mediocrity. Simply put, we are ‘nodding yes men and women’; therefore we persistently eulogise men and women who cannot see their ‘backside from their elbows’. In other words, we needlessly hold lousy individuals in high esteem.

The Chinese immigrants should not presume on our hospitability, because after all, they presumed to invite themselves to Ghana. The Chinese and their sympathisers should neither take the leniency of discerning Ghanaians as a sign of weakness nor assume that their activities are not harming our environment. It is also true that Communist China will never buy such flagitious activities from its nationals, let alone immigrants. It is only supposedly democratic Ghana that Chinese immigrants can flout the laws of the land without facing any comeuppance. Wake up Ghanaians, we attained our independence fifty five years ago, and it is about time we exercised our freedom!

K. Badu, UK.