Dennis Miracles Aboagye a former Director of Communications for the 2024 Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia campaign team has called on the Mahama government to declare a state of emergency against galamsey.
According to Dennis Miracles Aboagye, the National Democratic Congress (NDC) in opposition proposed the New Patriotic Party (NPP) to declare a state of emergency to fight illegal mining.
He noted that galamsey has escalated as the continued destruction of lands and pollution of water bodies due to illegal mining activities.
Speaking on Citi FM, Dennis Miracles Aboagye stated, “We want the NDC to declare a state of emergency because galamsey has escalated. That is what they professed two months ago to us.
We burnt excavators, we arrested illegal miners, we put them in jail and the president today said that was not the way to go but that is exactly what he is doing now”.
He further added, “He said on a campaign platform that he doesn’t understand why we were arresting people in the pits and that when he comes, he will release them so why is he arresting them in the pits today?”
Meanwhile, a raid on the Tano Anwia Forest Reserve in the Enchi Forest District of the Western North Region by a joint Forestry Commission and Military taskforce has resulted in the seizure of 10 excavators and the arrest of four individuals.
The raid took place on Sunday, March 9, 2025, in Compartments 17 and 20 of the reserve.
This raid forms part of the government’s efforts to fight illegal mining (galamsey).
Earlier, on Tuesday, 4 March 2025, operational staff from the Enchi Forest District of the Forest Services Division (FSD), along with the Rapid Response Team, acted on a tip-off and stormed the Tano Anwia Forest Reserve, successfully removing twelve excavators engaged in illegal mining.
However, the team was unable to make any arrests, as they were outnumbered and the miners were armed.
Following an intelligence report on Thursday, 6 March 2025, indicating that illegal miners were planning to return to the reserve, the team re-entered the forest and prevented re-entry.
On Saturday, 8 March 2025, another tip-off revealed that the illegal miners had returned. The team attempted to effect arrests but was once again outnumbered, as the miners were heavily armed and refused to vacate the reserve.
Subsequently, a joint team was deployed to the area, leading to the arrests and the seizure of the excavators. The confiscated equipment is being transported to the Enchi District Assembly premises, and a formal complaint has been lodged with the Enchi District Police Command.
Galamsey activities have led to the destruction of water bodies and land resources in the country, which has raised immense concerns amongst the Ghanaian community.
There have been warnings that if the menace is not checked, the nation will result in importing water in the foreseeable future.
