A GNA feature by Mildred Siabi-Mensah
Takoradi, March 7, GNA – The earth, through no fault of hers continuous to ‘swallow’ humans from empty pits left unattended to by illegal mining.
The ground hides more than gold—it conceals unmarked graves of innocent lives.
Mothers clutch faded photos of drowned children, but this time, somewhere in Wassa, a mother’s desperation to save her three children from the mouth of this ravaging pits turned bloody as four lives were lost at a go.
‘The news, broke my heart, left me wondering of how this menace of illegal mining and its devastating Impact can permanently be expunged from the annals of the environmental history of Ghana’.
Still, families, mourn providers vanished into abandoned pits, their cries echoing a national tragedy fuelled by galamsey, mothers’ boring the excruciating pains of children and Husbands lost in Galamsey’s deadly pits.
Galamsey pits, are often rain-filled and unprotected with no proper reclamation plan.
Human Toll
Available data in the media space says in Fanteakwa South, three boys aged nine to 14 drowned, twin brothers swallowed, other children eaten by these pits either coming back from school, walking along and slipping or just playing in a neighbourhood.
Seeing innocent persons turned corpses over night with their bodies pulled from toxic waters left by fleeing miners, is always heart wrenching.
Breadwinners become statistics, overnight.
Community Fears
Mining communities may be having terrible times, nightmares, anytime, one dies from these irresponsible behaviours of as these pits are scattered all over communities where mining is prevalent.
Human Resources Drain
Galamsey lures youth from farms and schools, only to kill or maim them. Poisoned waterbodies, demanding urgent steps to halt water insecurity by 2030, crippling agriculture that employs millions, while health crises from heavy metals sideline survivors.
Families are not just losing lives but future earners, deepening poverty cycles in rural Ghana.
Call to end illegal mining
Though, the Otumfuo Osei Tutu II (Asantehene) slammed politicians for fearing electoral backlash, allowing galamsey to destroy rivers and lands; still, political commitment to the fight seemed slow.
Prof. Kwabena Frimpong-Boateng, has noted how politicians flip policies under pressure to engender the anti-galamsey fight.
Mr. Jeremiah Sam, Executive Director of PenPlusBytes, has called for immediate galamsey bans and enforcement of laws.
The Dr. Kenneth Ashigbey led Media Coalition Against illegal mining worked tirelessly on the subject to no avail, so one may ask: “where do we cross the dots, who are the kingpins, where are the patriots, are they aware water is life and life is precious to be drowned in a matter of seconds by such preventable acts”.
Rethinking Reclamation
Reclaiming pits urgently with scaled-up programmes; Test soils and waters for pollution, enforce backfilling by licensed operators, and geo-map sites should be priority actions.
Path Forward
Ghana must regulate small-scale mining sector properly and take bold steps to kill its baby- illegal mining or galamsey: issue licenses tied to safety training, equipment standards, and community oversight.
Also, investments in alternatives like formal cooperatives with fair gold prices, youth skills programmes, and anti-corruption courts.
The Government must also redirect enforcement from solely the hands of the security of which some have also lost their lives to technology monitored zones.
Only bold regulation can heal the land and spare more tears soon.
Regulated galamsey, or formal small-scale mining, could channel Ghana’s artisanal gold sector into a structured economic engine.
Others, believe that the sector must be legalised with secured jobs, revenue, and poverty relief without the chaos of illegality.
World Bank formalization pushes land planning, job creation, and restoration, turning degraded sites into productive assets.
Safer technologies reduce mercury use, promotes clean production, and integrates with farming via reclaimed land.
For how long, can we lose our children, youths and leaders of tomorrow to the inactions of today, the clock is ticking, the messiah in the illegal mining fight must stand up now.
GNA
Edited by Justina Hilda Paaga/George-Ramsey Benamba