Prosper AGBENYEGA
Ghana’s fight against illegal mining, popularly known as galamsey, has reached a critical point where the government must demonstrate that enforcement can deliver lasting environmental protection rather than temporary victories. President John Dramani Mahama’s decision to maintain soldiers in nine cleared forest reserves and allocate GH¢400 million in the 2027 Budget for additional Blue Water Guards represents a significant commitment. However, the real test will be whether these interventions produce sustainable results for the country’s forests, rivers and communities.
The President’s announcement that all nine forest reserves previously classified as red zones have been cleared of illegal miners offers grounds for cautious optimism. These areas were considered particularly dangerous because of extensive environmental destruction and the presence of heavily armed operators. Their clearance is an important step towards reclaiming Ghana’s threatened natural heritage.
Yet, clearing a forest reserve is not the same as securing it permanently. Ghana’s experience with illegal mining has repeatedly demonstrated that operations can resume once security personnel withdraw. The President himself acknowledged that illegal miners had returned to previously cleared areas after soldiers left, exposing forest guards to attacks, some of which proved fatal.
The decision to maintain a military presence in the nine reserves is therefore understandable. It addresses a persistent weakness in the country’s anti-galamsey campaign: the failure to protect areas after enforcement operations have ended.
Nevertheless, a prolonged military presence cannot become a substitute for a functioning system of environmental protection. The government must establish clear operational responsibilities, effective monitoring arrangements and measurable targets for the protection of these reserves. The Forestry Commission and other relevant institutions must also be adequately resourced to assume their statutory responsibilities without leaving protected areas vulnerable to renewed destruction.
Security operations should deliver permanent protection, not create a cycle in which soldiers clear an area, leave, and later return to confront the same illegal miners.
GH¢400 million must deliver measurable results
The proposed GH¢400 million allocation for recruiting additional Blue Water Guards is another important component of the government’s strategy. Ghana’s rivers have suffered extensive pollution and sedimentation from illegal mining, threatening drinking-water supplies, aquatic ecosystems, agriculture and the livelihoods of communities that depend on these resources.
Additional personnel could strengthen surveillance, improve response times and extend enforcement to river channels and tributaries that have proved difficult to protect.
However, the announcement of a substantial budgetary allocation must be followed by transparency regarding its implementation. Ghanaians deserve to know how many guards will be recruited, where they will be deployed, what training and equipment they will receive, and how their performance will be assessed.
The government must also explain how the GH¢400 million will be spent and establish safeguards to ensure that the money achieves its intended purpose.
Public funds committed to fighting galamsey must translate into tangible environmental improvements. These should include reductions in illegal mining activities, improved water quality, fewer incursions into protected areas and the restoration of damaged ecosystems.
The government should publish periodic reports on these indicators so that Parliament, civil society organisations and the public can independently assess progress.
Moreover, the effectiveness of the Blue Water Guards should not be measured by the number of mining machines destroyed alone. While the destruction of changfang equipment may disrupt illegal operations, the ultimate objective must be to stop the pollution and degradation of water bodies.
The President’s admission that tributaries continue to carry mud and silt into rivers is a reminder that the problem remains far from resolved. Clearing major river channels will have limited long-term value if illegal mining continues upstream.
A comprehensive response must therefore protect entire river systems, including their tributaries and surrounding watersheds.
Enforcement must respect human life
The government’s resolve to combat illegal mining must not come at the expense of human rights and public safety.
President Mahama’s concern about incidents in which soldiers discharged firearms during enforcement operations, resulting in deaths, deserves serious attention. The state has a responsibility to protect the environment, but it also has an obligation to safeguard human life.
The use of force must remain lawful, necessary and proportionate. Every reported death arising from an enforcement operation must be investigated impartially, with appropriate accountability where wrongdoing is established.
Such measures are not intended to weaken the anti-galamsey campaign. On the contrary, they are essential to building public confidence in it.
When enforcement personnel operate with discipline and communities trust the institutions responsible for protecting them, the prospects for cooperation improve. Unnecessary violence, by contrast, risks deepening hostility and undermining the legitimacy of government operations.
The government must ensure that military deployments are accompanied by clear rules of engagement, proper supervision and effective mechanisms for receiving and investigating complaints.
Traditional authorities must match their influence with responsibility
The President’s appeal to chiefs in the Western North Region to support the campaign also deserves emphasis.
Illegal mining does not operate in a social vacuum. In some communities, it is sustained by local networks, economic dependence, access to land and the failure of authorities to prevent unlawful activities. Traditional leaders are often well placed to understand these dynamics and help resolve conflicts that may obstruct enforcement.
Their involvement must, however, go beyond public expressions of support.
Traditional authorities should help discourage the allocation or use of land for unlawful mining, cooperate with investigations and work with local institutions to protect forests and rivers. Where credible evidence implicates individuals in illegal mining, their status or influence should not shield them from lawful scrutiny.
At the same time, the government must avoid treating entire communities as enemies. Many residents depend on natural resources for their livelihoods and may have limited economic alternatives. Community engagement should be built on dialogue, fairness and practical solutions rather than intimidation.
The National Inter-Ministerial Coordinating Committee on Illegal Mining (NAIMOS) and other enforcement agencies must also communicate clearly with affected communities, explain the objectives of their operations and provide channels through which grievances can be addressed.
The objective should be to make local communities partners in environmental protection, not merely the targets of security operations.
Restoration must be more than planting trees
The proposed programme involving Goldbod, the military and the Forestry Commission to reclaim degraded forest areas and replant them with economic trees offers an opportunity to move the campaign beyond the removal of illegal miners.
Mining damage can leave behind unstable ground, abandoned pits, polluted waterways and severely degraded vegetation. Simply levelling the land and planting seedlings will not necessarily restore the ecological functions of a destroyed forest.
Reclamation must begin with proper assessments of the damage, including the safety of abandoned pits, the condition of the soil and the extent of water pollution. Restoration plans should identify appropriate tree species, provide for the maintenance of newly planted vegetation and monitor survival rates over time.
The Forestry Commission should lead the technical aspects of reforestation, working with local communities and environmental experts to ensure that restoration efforts are scientifically sound.
The government must also publish information on the areas selected for rehabilitation, the resources committed to the programme and the results achieved.
Without such transparency, there is a risk that reclamation will become another announced intervention whose progress cannot be independently verified.
The economic roots of galamsey cannot be ignored
Perhaps the most important aspect of the President’s remarks is his recognition that the fight against illegal mining must address the economic circumstances pushing young people into the activity.
Enforcement can disrupt illegal operations, but it cannot permanently eliminate the incentives that sustain them. Where young people see illegal mining as one of the few available sources of income, the removal of one operation may simply lead them to another location.
This does not justify environmental destruction or unlawful mining. Rather, it highlights the need for a strategy that combines law enforcement with viable economic alternatives.
The government must work with local authorities and the private sector to expand employment opportunities, support lawful small-scale mining and develop alternative livelihoods in communities heavily dependent on galamsey.
For small-scale mining, the priority should be to make lawful operations accessible, enforce environmental standards and ensure that legitimate operators can work without being undercut by illegal competitors.
Young people must also be equipped with skills and opportunities in agriculture, land restoration, responsible mining and other productive sectors.
Such interventions will require coordination among the relevant ministries, local authorities, traditional leaders and development partners. They must be designed around the economic realities of affected communities rather than imposed as generic programmes.
From political commitment to lasting environmental protection
Ghana cannot afford another cycle of forceful declarations followed by the gradual return of illegal mining. The destruction of forests and contamination of water bodies carry consequences that extend beyond any single government or political administration.
President Mahama’s announcements provide an opportunity to establish a more durable national response. But the success of the initiative will depend on consistent implementation, transparent spending, institutional accountability and public participation.
The government must ensure that the nine cleared forest reserves remain protected, that the GH¢400 million allocation delivers measurable improvements, and that reclamation programmes restore damaged landscapes rather than merely create the appearance of progress.
Parliament, civil society, environmental organisations, the media and local communities all have a role in monitoring these commitments.
The fight against galamsey must also be guided by a clear principle: no individual, company, traditional authority or political interest should be permitted to place private gain above the public’s right to a safe environment.
Ultimately, Ghana needs more than soldiers in its forests and guards along its rivers. It needs institutions capable of enforcing the law consistently, communities with viable economic alternatives, responsible traditional leadership and a restoration programme that repairs the damage already done.
The GH¢400 million commitment and the continued deployment of soldiers will matter only if they contribute to that broader transformation.
The measure of success must not be how many illegal miners are driven away today, but whether Ghana’s forests remain standing, its rivers become cleaner and future generations inherit an environment worth protecting.
