Question

Critically examine how the deployment and use of Social Media platforms by the   

    Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs) can help curb illegal mining

    activities in Ghana. Give examples to illustrate your points.

Answer 1

Ghana is Africa's one of the developing countries. It is rich in natural wealth and minerals like manganese ore, bauxite, etc; it is the biggest producer of Gold and exporter of Cocoa.

Nana Akufo-Addo is the present president of Ghana he has done many reforms in education, the health system that had helped in increasing economical structure of the country.

Mining is one of the sources of income where big parties have their stakes. As the mining requires large land the locals and miners are always at conflict as it displaces the common people from their land. The land is their livelihood. The mining companies are more interested in their profit. When they take the land from the people they make many promises for their wellbeing but they are never fulfilled. There are non-payment of appropriate compensations to landowners due to poor communication between the poor people, the company, and the government.

In Ghana, it is mandatory to take state permission for mining but there are about 70% illegal miners their strategy is to gather and sell they are not bothered to take safety measures for their miners. The mining is done illegally so they want to gather the deposit and run, it has resulted in environmental hazards with poisonous gases, pollution, and noise.

To get the maximum benefit to the country the government had formed the Minerals Development Fund (MDF) for the benefit of the local communities. 43% of Ghana's export is from the mining industry. It comprises 8.8% of Ghana's total GDP. To achieve this goal they had established the Office of the Administrator of Stool Lands (OASL) so that the wealth and funds obtained by these miners can be utilized properly. About 90% of profit should go to MMDA (Metropolitan, Municipal, and District Assemblies). The MMDA has received a bulk of amount, but whether it is utilized for the purpose it was receivers still not clear.

As per Chiefs in an FGD(focus group discussion) there is always late payment from the Ministry of Finance (MoF) to be disbursed to the communities because the law does not specify any timeline.

The Ghana government has realized the strength of Social media; they are utilizing it to bring awareness among the people about illegal mining and its ill effect on the local communities. People are using this platform to communicate their problems with the government and the government acts swiftly to curb the menace of illegal mining.

Ghana economical growth and GDP are due to the mining industry the illegal miners consist of 70% of the total mining industry they are not registered thus they do not contribute to improving local communities they are like a capitalist. The junk of Government revenue is being eaten by these illegal miners. They have the support of local politicians and antisocial elements. Thus through social networking anybody can inform the government and keep them on their toes. Social media activism and Satellite are used to get illegal mining activities under control.