A GNA feature by Mildred Siabi-Mensah
Takoradi, Jan. 17, GNA-As I watched Nana Kojo Mensah II, Divisional chief of Gwira Ampansie, lament on the devastating activities of illegal miners in that community on a news item on TV3 the other day, my heart began bleeding.
I thought through the years of education, demonstrations, and community initiatives, including community mining and other programmes, and wondered if Ghana, our motherland, is really making any headway in the fight against illegal mining.
Illegal mining, known locally as galamsey, continues to devastate Ghana’s environment, particularly in the resource-rich Western Region, while spreading nationwide with severe health, economic, and ecological consequences.
Water bodies like the Pra, Ankobra, and Offin Rivers among others, have not been spared the effects; they have actually turned toxic from mercury, cyanide, silt and other dangerous chemicals, endangering the lives of millions of Ghanaians who depended on them for drinking, fishing and farming aside reported birth deformities in new borns.
There has also been the constant looming danger of forest loss, disappearing arable farmlands and dwindling aquatic lives, signalling a crisis demanding urgent action.
Devastation
The Western Region bears heavy galamsey scars, with fortified illegal camps using heavy chemicals polluting rivers like the Ankobra, depriving over four million Ghanaians of safe water and fish.
Farmlands suffer as topsoil vanishes, cocoa yields drop amid contamination and even clearing of cocoa farms for such illegal mining activities, with communities facing food insecurity from destroyed agriculture.
Ankobra River Contamination Data
Research says Ankobra shows mercury up to 0.01 mg/L (10x Ghana’s 0.001 mg/L national limit), lead averaging 190 µg/L in some samples, and turbidity 4.79-629 NTU.
Again, sediments reveal high Cd, Hg, as water in Prestea and Dakrupe areas contaminated with Hg at 30+ ppm in soils feeding rivers.
The web space confirmed that pollution indices indicated moderate to high contamination from mining chemicals raising a serious concern not only for policy makers but individuals, cartel and syndicates in the trade to rethink about illegal mining
and the need to completely safe the country’s future through a regulated activity that promoted environmental sustainability.
Data on Contamination of River Pra
Turbidity in the Pra Basin reached up to 28,737 NTU (Nephelometric Turbidity Units), with most sites over 24 times WHO limits (typically <5 NTU for drinking NT
Arsenic exceeded WHO’s 0.01 mg/L at sites like Akim, Brenase, and Adiembra; lead hit 0.231 mg/L at Praso (23x WHO’s 0.01 mg/L); manganese and iron routinely surpassed irrigation thresholds.
National Toll on Water and Health Nationwide
Currently, over 60 per cent of water bodies carry heavy metals, rendering rivers chocolate-brown and unusable, with the Pra River 30 times cloudier than WHO limits.
In galamsey hotspots, children exhibit deformities from mercury, cyanide, and lead entering bloodstreams through polluted water, soil, and diet.
Health officials and researchers caution that laboratory tests and health outcomes negatively impacted by chemicals from this environmental pollution because of illegal mining and wrongful disposals.
Radical Solutions and Enforcement Efforts
Ghana, must therefore eye radical fixes like special galamsey courts, announced by Attorney General Dr. Dominic Ayine for February 2026 , to fast-track trials with strict timelines.
President John Mahama’s administration revoked 55 problematic licenses, banned the Community Mining Scheme, and launched Tree for Life and Blue Water initiatives for restoration.
Others believe that industrialization is central to ending illegal mining as well as alternative youth livelihoods.
It is projected that galamsey risks rendering ecosystems damaged by 2030, forcing water imports with dire consequences on agriculture.
At the moment, biodiversity continues to vanish, poverty deepens as SDGs falter, and health epidemics from toxins threaten generations.
Voices Calling for Action
The Asantehene Otumfuo Osei Tutu II condemned galamsey at the 2025 GJA Awards, blaming politicians’ vote-chasing and urging chiefs to act, noting ancestors mined without destruction.
Dr. Kenneth Ashigbey, Ghana Chamber of Mines CEO, demanded stronger law enforcement and sanctions.
Leading, the media coalition against illegal mining, Dr. Ashigbey and the media in Ghana must be done so well in contributing to education and awareness creation.
Mr. Kofi Eshun, a prominent figure in the Western Region, believes destooling traditional rulers whose lands host these nefarious activities was fundamental.
He also called for the head of district chief executives in prevalent illegal mining areas as they were the head of DISEC.
As Ghanaian businessman or woman, communities or even individuals, it is about time we begin putting on our patriotism, love for country and do away with selfish parochial interest ravaging our waters and land day in and out.
Reclamation of mined lands should be encouraged so that such lands could be used for farming food and cash crops like palm trees and vegetables
“Hen ara, hen asaase nyi.”
GNA
Edited by Justina Paaga /Benjamin Mensah