Omanghana
Minister for Lands and Natural Resources Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah has reaffirmed his determination to fight illegal small-scale mining, declaring that he would rather die with his integrity intact than be compromised.
He described the campaign against galamsey as dangerous but essential to protecting Ghana’s environment, water bodies and long-term survival.
The minister made the declaration during an engagement with members of the National Anti-Illegal Mining Operations Secretariat, enforcement task forces and Blue Water Guards deployed to protect and restore major water bodies, including the Ankobra River.
“I have said it one million times that I will choose to fight with integrity and die than be corrupted in this dangerous work that will destroy all of us,” Buah stated.
He said the commitment represented a pledge by the government and enforcement agencies to protect Ghana’s natural resources for present and future generations.
Buah indicated that the next phase of the anti-galamsey campaign would focus on identifying and prosecuting the financiers and influential individuals behind illegal mining operations.
According to him, many of the excavators and other machines seized or destroyed during enforcement operations belong to powerful individuals who remain hidden while laborers and local operators face arrest at mining sites.
“The machines we destroyed and the excavators we seized belong to powerful forces hiding in the dark,” the minister said, adding that authorities would pursue the sponsors and financiers until the illegal operations were dismantled.
He explained that arresting workers at mining sites without tracing the ownership and financial networks behind the operations would not be enough to end the problem.
The minister also highlighted progress made along the Ankobra River and other affected water bodies. He commended the Blue Water Guards, river wardens and enforcement teams for removing illegal miners and helping to restore polluted areas.
Buah urged the operational units to remain vigilant and prevent miners from returning to cleared concessions, riverbanks and protected buffer zones.
Field commanders assured the minister that enforcement activities would continue until all unauthorized mining equipment and structures within river corridors and protected forest reserves had been removed.
The Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources maintains that sustained enforcement, investigations into financing networks and the provision of alternative livelihoods will be central to the government’s campaign against illegal mining.
Source: Omanghana
