Ghana Fight to save country from scourge of illegal goldmining

Felicity Nelson recalls her 17-day detention in September vividly.

- Eromo Egbejule

The 34-year-old Ghanaian activist was one of 53 people arrested at a junction in Accra, the capital, after protesting with hundreds of others against illegal mining.

In detention, the group found a 54th person in their midst who had not been at the demonstration but was apprehended after visiting Oliver Barker-Vormawor, the protest's organiser, in hospital. Nelson, who is asthmatic, was denied access to inhalers in her cell, which she said reminded her of slave dungeons used during the transatlantic human trade. "No light, no air, just holes in the ceiling for ventilation," said the activist, who relied on food brought by her family and friends.

The West African state, led by Nana Akufo-Addo, a human rights lawyer, has long been seen as a beacon of democracy. However, rights groups say civil freedoms are being eroded by officials reluctant to tackle illegal mining, known as "galamsey", a pidgin contraction of the phrase "gather them and sell". It is a reference to the way in which artisans gather alluvial deposits dispersed by mining corporations.