On September 30, Ghana will experience a nationwide lockdown as civil servants and labor unions intensify protests against the widespread environmental devastation caused by illegal mining operations, commonly referred to as Galamsey. The unregulated activities have led to extensive damage to water bodies, farmland, and forest reserves, prompting urgent calls for government intervention.
Reports from the Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL) reveal that 60% of Ghana’s major water sources have been contaminated due to Galamsey activities. Water treatment facilities, overwhelmed by turbidity levels averaging 14,000 NTU, are struggling to provide clean water, far surpassing their designed capacity of 2,000 NTU. This has resulted in severe water shortages across many regions.
Various civil society organizations, labor unions, media outlets, and religious leaders have called for immediate government intervention. They are urging the government to declare a state of emergency in the affected areas, deploy security forces to remove illegal miners, and cancel mining licenses.
Dr. Kenneth Ashigbey, convener of the Ghana Coalition Against Galamsey, emphasized the urgency of the situation:
“When you poison the enemy’s water during war, it is a war crime. But here, we are poisoning our own water, and our leaders are failing to act. This is a crisis that requires immediate intervention.”
Albert Kwabena Dwumfour, President of the Ghana Journalists Association, also called for the deployment of the military to protect water bodies and a revocation of mining licenses in key biodiversity areas.
Illegal mining has not only contaminated water but also devastated farmlands and cocoa-producing regions. Over 34 forest reserves have been destroyed, contributing to a national environmental crisis.
As the government prepares to implement the lockdown, all eyes are on how it will respond to this growing pressure and whether decisive action will be taken to halt the destruction of Ghana’s natural resources.
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