Investigative Journalist Erastus Asare Donkor has indicated that galamsey activities within residential communities and on water bodies have gotten worse.
Speaking on the Orange Sunrise this morning, Eratstus Donkor explained that although some progress has been made in preserving forests, illegal mining in communities is worsening
” I will describe progress as relative. If you want to do a proper assessment, I will say that in terms of forest areas, we have been able to chalk up some level of success. When we started in 2025, there were quite a number of armed bandits who were controlling mining within forest reserves, and even forestry guards could not enter”, Mr Donkor explained.
He added that Ghana has been able to clear a substantial number of bandits, citing forests like the Tano- Anwia and Tano- Nimri, and others as examples.
“But when you come to mining in settlements, it has become worse, when you go to mining on water bodies, that is also worse, because we still have Changfan machines sitting on the Offin River, Oda River, the Pra River and people are still mining on the banks of the Ankobrah River”, he stressed.
He pointed out that this was due to slow prosecution and the lack of prosecution in some cases. According to him, some excavators were returned to illegal miners after they had been seized by authorities
” I will tell you why; it is because we have been arresting people, we have been seizing equipment, but we are not prosecuting. We arrest, we take them through the process, and then we release them. No prosecutions, few prosecutions in court are still pending”
Speaking on the recent expose on illegal mining close to the Subin River, Mr Donkor said the MCE, as well as some traditional leaders, were aware of the activities, explaining that the awareness of authorities in the area did not deter the financiers from stopping operations.
He explained that the illegal mining activities close to the Subin River were specifically happening in the Ahwiren town close to the Bekwai-Atiwa road. He pointed out that the only thing separating the road from the mining site was a thin piece of roofing sheet.
Clarifying his findings, Mr Donkor said he was contacted by an individual who called himself Joshua, who said that the mining site was part of a cooperative mining initiative. However, further probe about mining licenses did not yield results.
He added that the mining activities were still ongoing despite the filing of the report. The illegal mining activities have polluted the source of water for the people of Ahwiren, destroyed farmlands and wetlands, and pose a serious threat to infrastructure.
