The Lands Minister Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah has revealed that since assuming office, he has not seen any of the drones reportedly procured by the Akufo-Addo-led government in their fight against galamsey.
According to Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah, Technology is very critical in the fight against galamsey but drones are one of the things they are still looking for.
Speaking at a gathering of management and staff of the Minerals Commission in Accra on Monday, April 7, 2025, Kofi Buah stated, “Technology is very critical in this work. And I think from here, I’m going to see some geo-fencing activities you guys have done here and see how we can even make it bigger and expand it. Yes, there were reports of drones and other things from the Inter-Ministerial Committee.
But I can tell you that it’s probably part of the things we are looking at. I have not seen the drones since I became a minister, and I don’t know exactly where they are,” he noted.
In 2017, then-Lands Minister John Peter Amewu faced public criticism over the government’s decision to purchase drones worth $3 million, he claimed the drones were to help monitor galamsey.
In a concerning development, $3 million worth of drones intended to combat illegal mining (galamsey) have reportedly gone missing, raising questions about government oversight.
In a post on X, The Fourth Estate last year 2024, asked for more clarity from both the Presidency and National Security on the matter, “$3m galamsey drones missing? – Presidency & National Security lack answers”.
The missing drones were part of an initiative aimed at curbing the environmental damage caused by galamsey operations.
Meanwhile, Samuel Abu Jinapor, the former Minister for Lands and Natural Resources has stated the whereabouts of the galamsey drones questions can be best answered by Prof Frimpong Boateng who was the leader of the Inter-Ministerial Committee.
According to him, there were no records of these drones when he became minister, whether they were bought and where they are he has no knowledge.
Speaking in an interview with Joy FM, Samuel Abu Jinapor reacted to the Land minster comment saying, “These drones that are being talked about are drones which were supposedly bought in 2018 by the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Illegal Mining, which was headed by Professor Frimpong-Boateng. When I became minister, there was no handover note which suggested that drones had been bought, and neither were there any drones handed over to me as minister.
So the correct place to direct the enquiry will be the Minerals Commission, which is the repository of all records about mining, and therefore they should have records of it, and/or the leadership of the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Illegal Mining headed by Professor Frimpong-Boateng and his colleagues.”
“I made queries and enquiries. There were no records of these drones… they just did not exist at the time I became minister. Were they bought? Were they not bought? How were they handled? All these questions can be answered by the Inter-Ministerial Committee”, Abu Jinapor added.
