When activist Oliver Barker Vormawor saw reports in September that Ghana’s water agency would not be able to supply some parts of the country with water due to extreme contamination of main rivers from small-scale mining activities, he knew he had to do something.
Later that month, Vormawor and dozens of other concerned Ghanaians took to the streets in the capital city, Accra, to protest against what they said was President Nana Akufo-Addo’s inaction to stop a “looming environmental catastrophe”. They were determined to put the matter on the ballot ahead of the hotly contested December general elections. But rather than get a reaction to their demands, Vormawor and several of his comrades were arrested and imprisoned for weeks on charges of illegal assembly.
