Of Galamsey and Gunfire
By Dr. Ato Kwamena Danso · 8 November 2025 · Politics
The news from home now comes with such velocity that I can barely catch my breath. It’s not so much a stream of updates as it is a political firehose aimed squarely at the face. Let me first applaud the Food and Drugs Board. They’ve truly found their stride , now catching adulterated herbal mixtures as if competing for Olympic glory. My earlier observations, it seems, were just the teaser to the full-blown absurdity they’re now courageously documenting. As for the galamsey fight, or perhaps we should now call it the Galamsey Games, it continues to supply the nation with endless comedic relief. This week’s episode featured a mob in Bronikrom physically blocking the arrest of illegal miners. Civic engagement, Ghana-style: democracy with a touch of rugby. Naturally, our dear MPs have joined the fray. One was reportedly basking in foreign sunshine while remotely directing proceedings, and the other, Ebenezer Kwaku Addo of Asutifi North, graced the courts soon after. While the average citizen might still be stewing in a cell, Mr. Addo glided out on a GHS150,000 bail living proof that in Ghana, your political title is worth far more than your house deed. Adding insult to irony, the honorable gentleman was later seen in Parliament, scrolling idly through his phone while serious business unfolded around him. One assumes he was checking whether the “rule of law” was trending on social media. Now, here’s where the irony positively sparkles: the very people who once showered Dr. Ayine with praise for his fearless press briefings and his refusal to give others the benefit of the doubt are now preaching patience and “fair hearing” for Mr. Kwaku Addo. The sudden discovery of due process, how refreshing! One might have expected Dr. Ayine himself to emerge from his corner, lectern in place, ready to prosecute with the same fervor he’s shown in the past. But alas, when the accused wears an NDC MP’s lapel pin, both lectern and outrage go missing in action. Then, as if the plot weren’t tangled enough, in came Muntaka Mubarak, the Interior Minister, declaring that Phyllis Naa Koryoo had denied any knowledge of violence during the Awutu Senya election , the very incident that left one person dead. This, mind you, is the same Ms. Koryoo who once gave a vivid, Oscar-worthy account of Hawa Koomson and her men firing three gunshots. But now, those shots seem to have been discharged only in her dreams. The guns have vanished, the witnesses have evaporated, and truth itself appears to be on an extended sabbatical. And yet , no arrest, no caution, no consequence. In our dear republic, political fiction isn’t just tolerated; it’s practically a national pastime. Facts are optional, spin is mandatory, and amnesia is a career asset. And then, in a plot twist worthy of a telenovela, Naa Koryoo held a press conference to refute the Interior Minister’s account of her own denial. You really can’t make this stuff up, Osagyefo. In Ghanaian politics, contradiction isn’t a problem, it’s a performance art. So long, Ato KD