Executive Summary
Illegal mining, locally known as galamsey, has evolved from a rural menace into a national emergency. Its unchecked proliferation is contaminating Ghana’s water sources, destroying arable land, and threatening the health and economic stability of millions. This article examines the current crisis, the systemic effects of galamsey across sectors, the policy response, and the critical need for a united national front to preserve Ghana’s natural heritage. If this war is not decisively won, Ghana risks irreversible environmental collapse, economic regression, and a compromised future for generations.
1. Introduction: Ghana at a Crossroads
Ghana, a nation rich in natural resources and history, is being strangled by the unchecked scourge of illegal mining, driven by short-term personal gain, at the cost of national sustainability. What was once dismissed as a localized issue has now infected the entire country. Our rivers run brown with silt and mercury; our forests are being hollowed out by excavators; and our children may inherit a land poisoned beyond use. We face an urgent danger and decision — rise together, or perish divided
2. The Water Crisis: A Symptom of Systemic Collapse
A stark example of galamsey’s impact emerged during an attempt to procure bottled water for Ghana’s Upper East Region. Despite contacting four of the nation’s largest water bottling companies, not a single one could meet the supply request — not for a day, not for a week, and not for nearly a month. The reason was startling: a critical shortage of clean water.
The Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL) has publicly lamented that turbidity levels in major rivers like the Pra, Ankobra, and Offin have exceeded 14,000 NTU (Nephelometric Turbidity Units), while the acceptable treatment threshold is 5,000 NTU (WaterAid, 2024; ISS Africa, 2024). This makes water treatment both extremely difficult, and financially unsustainable. In 2023 alone, the GWCL reported a 75% drop in potable water production in galamsey-affected regions (WaterAid, 2024).
Galamsey is not just polluting rivers — it is choking lives, undermining industrial viability, and compromising the most basic human need: clean drinking water.
3. Economic, Environmental, and Health Fallout
The ripple effects of galamsey stretch far beyond water shortages:
• Agriculture: Farmers can no longer rely on clean irrigation water. Mercury-laden soils render farmlands toxic and unproductive. A 2019 study revealed that crops such as cassava and maize, grown near illegal mining sites, contained mercury concentrations above FAO/WHO permissible limits (Boamponsem et al., 2019).
• Food Security: The disinterest of youth in farming, exacerbated by the lure of quick mining profits, is creating labor shortages. As a result, commercial farming is declining, threatening food supply chains.
• Public Health: Mercury, arsenic, and cyanide from mining runoff infiltrate food and water systems. Exposure leads to long-term illnesses, including kidney failure, cancer, birth defects, and neurological damage (Mensah et al., 2020). Communities in the Western, Ashanti, and Eastern Regions report rising health complications linked to mining pollution.
• Industry and Productivity: Water-intensive industries — from beverage bottling to textiles and construction — face increasing shutdowns and layoffs. This impacts employment and industrial output, with ripple effects across the broader economy (Crawford & Botchwey, 2018).
• Climate and Biodiversity: Illegal deforestation for mining accelerates climate change, and wipes out biodiversity. Ghana’s forest cover loss, much of it linked to galamsey, exceeds 135,000 hectares annually (Global Forest Watch, 2023).
Galamsey is not just an environmental issue — it is an existential threat to Ghana’s socio-economic development and livelihood.
4. The Political and Social Response: Promising but Insufficient
Efforts by His Excellency President John Dramani Mahama, and the current Minister for Lands and Natural Resources, Hon. Emmanuel Armah Kofi Buah, to tackle illegal mining must be supported. Declaring war on galamsey is a bold and necessary step. But this war cannot — and must not — be left to politicians alone.
This crisis demands a full-spectrum societal response. Government regulation must be reinforced by grassroots vigilance (youth), cultural leadership (chiefs and opinion leaders), and corporate accountability (institutions and companies). Without this, policies will remain paper tigers, and Ghana will continue to bleed its natural wealth into the hands of a lawless few, dragging the nation to its knees.
5. A National Call to Action: Reclaiming Ghana’s Future
To defeat galamsey, the nation must rise in unified resistance. The following actions are urgent, and non-negotiable:
• Empower Chiefs and Opinion Leaders: Traditional authorities must enforce land protection, reject illegal concessions, and lead in environmental stewardship.
• Engage Religious and Civic Institutions: Faith leaders and civic organizations must rally communities to resist and report galamsey operations.
• Activate the Private Sector: Ghanaian businesses must audit their supply chains, refuse to collaborate with illegal miners, and invest in sustainable water infrastructure.
• Support Responsible Media: Journalists and media houses must investigate and expose galamsey financiers, protect whistleblowers, and elevate public awareness.
• Equip Enforcement Agencies: Regulatory bodies and security forces must be provided with resources, legal protection, and political support to dismantle illegal mining networks.
This is not only a policy challenge; it is a moral, and generational one. It is a matter of national survival.
6. Conclusion: We Cannot Drink Gold
The brutal truth is this: we cannot drink gold. We cannot grow food in poisoned soil. And we cannot build a resilient, prosperous Ghana on a foundation of environmental destruction.
This is our fight. The government alone cannot win it. We must — as citizens, leaders, and stewards of the land — rise and reclaim what is ours.
If we delay, the cost will be irreversible. If we act, we can still preserve what remains, and rebuild what has been lost. The time is now.
Let us rise — for our land, for our water, for our future.
Authored by:
Ing. Mark A. Apaweo
Mechanical Engineer, Plant reliability/Optimization /waste-to-energy expert
