What began as a crisis of environmental pollution has evolved into a full-blown human rights emergency, investigative journalist and environmental advocate, Mr. Erastus Asare Donkor, has warned.
Speaking at the Annual General Meeting (AGM) of Amnesty International (AI) Ghana, underway in Fiapre near Sunyani, Mr. Donkor painted a grim picture of how illegal mining — known locally as “galamsey” — is not only destroying Ghana’s rivers and forests but is also deeply violating the rights of vulnerable communities.
According to him, approximately 60 percent of Ghana’s major rivers are now dangerously polluted with heavy metals such as mercury and cyanide, leaving entire populations without access to safe drinking water, fertile farmland, or basic dignity. He cited river systems in the Ashanti, Western, and Eastern regions as the most severely affected, with many communities “suffering in silence.”
“Illegal mining is not just an environmental issue; it is an issue of survival, safety, and justice,” Mr. Donkor declared. “We are witnessing the systemic erosion of livelihoods, the criminalization of protest, and the rise of a justice vacuum where power shields perpetrators and punishes victims.”
In a chilling anecdote, Mr. Donkor recounted the ordeal of an elderly woman in the Amansie area who resisted the illegal takeover of her farmland by a miner operating with impunity. Despite having no mining license, the miner’s operations were not halted. Instead, the woman and two others who challenged him were arrested — a situation that only reversed after media intervention.
More worrying, Mr. Donkor said, was the complicity of some state actors. “There is growing evidence of security operatives extorting miners or turning a blind eye to illegal activities, effectively enabling the destruction they are mandated to prevent,” he added. “This compounds the injustice, as state protection becomes state persecution.”
The AGM, themed “Resilience in a Restricted Civic Space,” has drawn human rights defenders from across West Africa, including representatives from Amnesty International chapters in Nigeria, Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire, and Germany.
Francis Nyantakyi, Board Chairman of AI Ghana, echoed Donkor’s concerns, warning that the unchecked destruction of ecosystems is unraveling the basic rights to life, health, food, and security.
“When rivers become toxic, food chains collapse and people fall sick from contaminated water or lose access to livelihoods, this is no longer just a matter of the environment—it’s a human rights crisis,” Nyantakyi stated.
He called for a stronger national response anchored in accountability, community engagement, and enforcement. “We need a shift in perspective. Protecting the environment is protecting people. If the state fails to uphold this responsibility, it fails its people.”
As Ghana continues to grapple with the destructive impacts of illegal mining, both speakers emphasized the urgency for decisive legal action, improved governance mechanisms, and greater civic resilience to confront what they described as a multi-layered threat to the nation’s future.
