Jimmy Aglah takes the fight against galamsey into Ghanaian classrooms

Kumasi, Ghana — Ghanaian author and media executive Jimmy Aglah is taking the national conversation on illegal mining, environmental destruction and responsible citizenship into the classroom following the approval of his novel, When the River Testified, by the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NaCCA) as supplementary reading material for Ghanaian students.

The NaCCA verification system lists the book as officially approved, identifying it as a supplementary reader for JHS/SHS and confirming that it meets the Council’s standards.

At a time when Ghana continues to grapple with the devastating consequences of illegal and irresponsible mining, popularly known as galamsey, When the River Testified seeks to help young people understand not only the environmental damage involved, but also the deeper questions of responsibility, leadership, silence, greed and the choices communities make when confronted with wrongdoing.

Set in the fictional Ghanaian town of Asempa Nkwanta, the novel follows broadcast journalist Kofi Densu, whose investigation into a deteriorating river gradually uncovers a much wider environmental and public health crisis.

Scientific tests conducted by Dr Mensima reveal elevated levels of mercury and lead in water and food crops. Evidence from the clinic, borehole, palace and surrounding community gradually comes together, forcing residents to confront the consequences of environmental degradation and the failure of individuals and institutions to act.

Although fictional, the issues explored in the novel mirror a national challenge that has become increasingly urgent.

For Aglah, bringing the subject into literature for young readers is an attempt to move the conversation beyond enforcement and political debate.

“We cannot wait until our children become adults before teaching them why the rivers matter, why forests matter and why individual choices have consequences for entire communities,” he said.

“The fight for our environment must also be fought in the classroom, in the imagination and in the values we pass on to the next generation.”

Aglah believes fiction offers a particularly powerful way of engaging young people because it allows them to encounter environmental issues through characters, consequences and moral choices rather than through statistics alone.

The approval of When the River Testified also places the book within Ghana’s broader educational objective of developing learners who can think critically, solve problems, exercise responsible citizenship and apply knowledge to real-life challenges.

The book also speaks directly to the international agenda on Education for Sustainable Development.

Under Sustainable Development Goal 4.7, the United Nations calls for all learners to acquire the knowledge and skills needed to promote sustainable development, sustainable lifestyles, responsible citizenship and an appreciation of humanity’s relationship with the wider world.

The themes of When the River Testified also connect naturally with SDG 6, which seeks access to clean water and sustainable management of water resources, while its treatment of environmental stewardship, degraded land and community responsibility touches on the broader sustainability agenda.

Aglah argues that the long-term solution to environmental destruction cannot depend exclusively on arrests, task forces and regulation.

“Laws are important, enforcement is important, but sustainability ultimately depends on what a generation believes,” he said.

“If young people grow up understanding that poisoning a river is not simply an environmental offence but an attack on health, livelihoods, food security and the future, we begin to build a different kind of citizen.”

The author hopes the novel will be used not simply for individual reading, but also as a resource for guided classroom discussion, literature lessons, reading clubs, environmental clubs and values-based education.

Teachers, he believes, can use the story to encourage learners to interrogate competing interests, examine evidence, discuss moral responsibility and propose solutions to environmental problems within their own communities.

The approval therefore comes at a significant moment in Ghana’s continuing debate over galamsey and the sustainability of the country’s natural resources.

Rather than presenting environmental protection as an abstract national policy issue, When the River Testified brings the consequences home through the lives of ordinary people living beside a river whose condition becomes a testimony against human choices.

For Aglah, that is ultimately the purpose of the book.

“The river in the story cannot walk into a courtroom. It cannot organise a demonstration or hold a press conference. But it can testify through what happens to the people who depend on it. I want young readers to understand that nature eventually presents its evidence.”

With NaCCA approval secured, attention now turns to publishing, nationwide distribution and partnerships that can make the book available to schools and young readers across Ghana.

Aglah is currently engaging publishers and organisations interested in education, literacy, environmental sustainability and youth development to support the production and wider distribution of the book.

When the River Testified is written by Jimmy Aglah and has been officially verified by NaCCA under Book ID NaCCA/G.42/Vol.8/366.

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