Ghana President announces more water guards to fight illegal mining

Ghanaian President John Dramani Mahama has announced plans to hire and train more water guards to combat illegal mining, known as galamsey, and protect the nation’s water bodies. The President stated that the Minister for Finance has agreed to allocate funds for this initiative to assist the Minerals Commission (NAIMOS) in clearing illegal mining activities from river channels and their tributaries.

In a separate discussion regarding the crisis, legal practitioner Kwame Jantuah of the Convention People’s Party suggested more aggressive enforcement measures. Jantuah proposed that if a “shoot to kill” policy is rejected by human rights activists, security forces should instead “shoot to maim” illegal miners to instill fear and deter the practice. He also advocated for a two- to three-year ban on all small-scale mining licenses to allow the sector to be restructured and water bodies to recover.

The environmental impact of illegal mining remains severe. The Ghana Water Company Limited reported that turbidity levels in the Birim River have reached 75,000 NTU, preventing the restart of the Kyebi water treatment plant.