The AfriKan Continental Union Consult (ACUC) has blamed Ghana’s illegal mining crisis on decades of weak regulations, political complicity, and systemic governance failures, warning that the situation has evolved into a national security emergency threatening public health and the nation’s survival.
Speaking to the Ghana News Agency (GNA), Dr. Benjamin Anyagre Aziginaateeg, CEO of ACUC, noted that Ghana’s inability to curb galamsey stems not only from criminal activity on the ground but from institutional lapses and policy decisions that enabled the destruction to take root.
According to him, illegal mining flourished due to lax enforcement, compromised state institutions, and mining policies that favoured private interests over national welfare.
“This crisis did not arise by accident,” he stressed. “Policy mismanagement, governance weaknesses, and the failure to enforce mining laws opened the door to environmental destruction and foreign exploitation.”
Public Health Threat Looms
Dr. Aziginaateeg cautioned that Ghana is edging dangerously close to a public health disaster similar to Japan’s 1950s Minamata tragedy, where mercury contamination caused irreversible neurological damage and birth deformities.
He warned that early signs of mercury contamination are already visible in local water and food
“We are poisoning our future. If mercury levels continue rising, the cost to public health and human life will be catastrophic.”
Call for National Security Approach
The ACUC head called for illegal mining to be legally classified as a national security threat and treated as organised crime. He proposed the arrest and prosecution of kingpins, seizure of assets, and sanctions on political actors who enabled or protected illegal mining networks.
“Silence is complicity,” he declared, emphasising that law enforcement must operate without political interference.
Policy and Structural Reforms Proposed
To rebuild national integrity and environmental health, Dr. Aziginaateeg outlined sweeping reforms, including:
Creation of a Ghana Environmental Recovery Fund financed by mining companies and seized illegal mining proceeds
Strict enforcement of environmental laws and maximum sentencing for offenders
Full empowerment of EPA and Forestry Commission without political influence
Dismissal and public naming of compromised officials
Ban on mining in all water basins and restoration of damaged ecosystems
Support for nano-liquid decontamination technologies to rehabilitate polluted rivers
He urged the government to invest in sustainable alternatives such as agro-processing, ethical small-scale mining, and reforestation jobs to provide viable livelihoods for youth.
Historic Missteps Highlighted
The ACUC chief criticised past policy choices, citing lapses in state equity participation, allocation of virgin lands to mining firms, concessions in protected forests, and failure to enforce Act 465 on state participation in mining.
He said these contributed to foreign dominance in the sector and fueled the rise of what he described as state-enabled environmental exploitation.
“Ghana once mined responsibly underground. Today, surface galamsey is dismantling entire ecosystems and threatening the nation’s future.”
