Kwabena Adu Koranteng Writes
Galamsey is no longer just an environmental crime. It has evolved into a silent war — one that is claiming the lives of our most prominent politicians and security officials. The recent deaths of high-ranking leaders on their way to confront illegal mining activities are no coincidence. They are the bloody footprints of a deadly network that is far more organised, armed, and dangerous than we dare to admit.
History warns us that illegal mining, when left unchecked, transforms into a national security crisis. In the late 1990s and early 2000s, Sierra Leone and Liberia’s resource-fuelled conflicts showed how illicit control of gold and diamonds can fund armed groups, topple governments, and plunge nations into chaos. Ghana is walking the same dangerous path.
The signs are already here. Since 2013, multiple operations — from Operation Flush Out under the Mahama administration to Operation Vanguard launched in 2017 — have failed to crush galamsey because the network is deeply entrenched in politics and business. According to the Water Resources Commission, more than 60% of Ghana’s rivers are now polluted, with the Pra, Ankobra, and Offin reduced to toxic sludge. The Ghana Water Company warns that if pollution continues at current rates, treatable water sources could be exhausted in less than 10 years.
Behind the murky waters of poisoned rivers and the lifeless stumps of felled forests lies an underground empire — fuelled by greed, protected by powerful political backers, and enforced by armed gangs. This is no ragtag operation; it is a shadow state within Ghana, with its own economy, weapons, and influence that reaches into the highest offices of the land.
If the government continues to respond with half measures, the galamsey cartels will tighten their grip, eliminating anyone — politician, soldier, or journalist — who dares to threaten their profits. This is no longer about just saving our environment; it is about saving the Republic itself.
The time for polite committees and empty speeches is over. Ghana must declare a state of emergency on galamsey. Deploy the full might of the state — military intelligence, special operations, and anti-corruption forces — to dismantle this network before it dismantles us. Anything less is surrender.
