A viral video has surfaced of galamsey activities ongoing in the constituency of Lands Minister Emmanuel Armah Kofi Buah.
In the viral video shared by Metro TV, an excavator was captured busily working on land claimed to be in the constituency of the Lands Minister.
A netizen has however claimed he took the video in 2024 and now Metro TV is using it as a propaganda tool against the Minister for Lands and Natural Resources.
He wrote, “I did this Galamsey video in 2024 but @metrotvgh is today using it as a propaganda tool against the Minister for Lands and Natural Resources. This is very shameful journalism and gross incompetence. I demand an immediate apology from the media station”.
However, Metro TV has since deleted the video.
The lands minister has been in the news lately after embarking on a fact-finding mission around some galamsey sites.
The Minister of Lands cautioned illegal miners across the country to put down their tools and vacate the forests and rivers before they were apprehended.
During the fact-finding operation, 15 excavators were seized, with the Minister of Lands stating that the government plans to channel the excavators into road construction.
In total, Kofi Buah revealed Ghana had lost about 5,000 hectares, an equivalent of about 7,500 football fields, to illegal mining operations in forest reserves.
Speaking to the media Kofi Buah stated, “With the unwavering support of my colleagues, the Minister of Defence, Dr Omane Boamah; Minister for the Interior, Muntaka Mubarak, and the Ashanti Regional Minister, Dr Frank Amoakohene, we deployed the military to the forests to clamp down on these illegal operations.
This, however, is not the end. Investigations are ongoing, and we are working closely with the Ghana Armed Forces and the Ghana Police Service to ensure that the perpetrators are brought to justice”, he stated.
He added, “This is not an exercise in futility. We are resolute in our mission. We will not rest until those responsible for this environmental carnage are held accountable, including their accomplices,”
“As I have stated before, and I reiterate today, we will not relent in this fight. This is a battle for all of us — every Ghanaian who values our environment, our health and our future. I urge all well-meaning Ghanaians to join us in this critical fight. Together, we can win this war,”
Meanwhile, The Acting Managing Director of the Precious Minerals Marketing Company (PMMC), Sammy Gyamfi, says the government can only end illegal mining (galamsey) if it has complete control over excavators used in mining.
He revealed that the government plans to set up a plant pool of environmentally friendly equipment and use that equipment to fight illegal mining.
Sammy Gyamfi stated, “The surest way of fighting galamsey is controlling the excavators because without the excavators you cannot engage in the mining that we are doing. So if you are the one giving the equipment to the miner then you can control what it is used for.”
See the post below:
I did this Galamsey video in 2024 but @metrotvgh is today using it as a propaganda tool against the Minister for Lands and Natural Resources.
This is a very shameful journalism and gross incompetence.
I demand immediate apology from the media station.pic.twitter.com/jtgbv0Nd9n— COMRADE SHARP (@ComradeSharp) March 4, 2025
Current situation: Galamsey ongoing in the Lands Minister’s constituency (Ellembelle)#MetroNews pic.twitter.com/ByCQ34izy8
— Metro TV Ghana (@metrotvgh) March 4, 2025
