True Cost of Galamsey Revealed at 20th ‘Kronti ne Akwamu’ Public Lecture

The environmental, social, and human rights toll of illegal mining in Ghana was laid bare on Thursday evening as Joy News’ investigative journalist Erastus Asare Donkor delivered a compelling presentation at the 20th Annual ‘Kronti ne Akwamu’ Democracy and Good Governance Public Lecture, held at the Ghana Academy of Arts and Sciences.

Organized by CDD-Ghana under the theme “A Country in Search of Solutions in Plain Sight,” the lecture attracted policymakers, diplomats, environmental advocates, researchers, traditional authorities, and media practitioners.

It provided a platform for in-depth reflection on the far-reaching impacts of illegal mining, popularly known as galamsey, across the country.

The lecture was chaired by former Environment Minister and renowned cardiothoracic surgeon, Professor Kwabena Frimpong-Boateng, who described Donkor as “a one-man galamsey fighter whose courage continues to shake complacency in governance.”

Opening remarks by Prof. H. Kwasi Prempeh, Executive Director of CDD-Ghana, emphasized that illegal mining had become “a millstone around the country’s neck”, threatening livelihoods, ecosystems, and democratic accountability.

He noted that despite government initiatives such as Operation Vanguard, Operation Halt, and NAIMOS, the problem persisted due to impunity and weak enforcement.

Australia’s High Commissioner to Ghana, Ms. Berenice Owen-Jones, delivered a message of solidarity, emphasizing galamsey as not just an environmental issue, but a threat to national security.

She highlighted Australia’s continued support for Ghana through programs such as Mining for Peace, extractive governance scholarships, community resilience projects, and the Africa Extractive Media Fellowship.

She urged participants to ask the difficult questions that could lead to meaningful solutions and safeguard communities.

Taking the podium to sustained applause, Mr. Erastus Asare Donkor outlined a decades-long investigative study revealing the devastating consequences of illegal mining.

He reported that Ghana’s closed canopy forest cover has plummeted from 6.5 million hectares in 1900 to just 1.02 million hectares by 2024, with 430,000 hectares lost between 2015 and 2024 alone.

Forest reserves including Apamprama, Offin Shelterbelt, Oda River, Tano Nimri, Upper Wassaw, Tano Offin, Cape Three Points, Subri, Boin River, Jimira, and Atiwa are under severe threat.

Nine reserves were classified as RED ZONES by early 2025 due to illegal mining, rising again to five red zones by October 2025, with Bui National Park now rated ORANGE.

Erastus Asare Donkor detailed the widespread river pollution caused by galamsey, citing major rivers such as the Pra, Birim, Offin, Ankobra, Densu, Tano, and Butre as being heavily contaminated.

Laboratory tests by KNUST’s Sheath Laboratory revealed arsenic, cadmium, chromium, and lead levels exceeding WHO safety limits by over 200%, while airborne mercury in mining communities reached 800,000 ng/m³, more than double the safe limit recommended by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

The human cost of galamsey was equally alarming. Hospitals reported rising cases of congenital birth defects in mining-affected areas between January and June 2025, including 12 cases of anorectal malformation, 8 cases of spina bifida, 7 cases of gastroschisis, 5 cases of intestinal obstruction, and 3 cases of encephalocele—66% linked directly to mothers exposed to toxic mining chemicals.

Donkor described this trend as a “silent human rights emergency.”

Donkor also exposed the use of illegal cyanide leaching, locally called Sankofa, across several Ahafo communities, including Ntotroso, Kenyasi (Nos. 1 and 2), Hwidiem, Nkaseim, Atta ne Atta, Woromso, and Bronikrom. Cyanide ponds near seasonal streams that feed into the River Tano pose a looming ecological disaster.

“These are monumental crimes against nature and humanity,” he warned.

The journalist emphasized that governance failures, not just illegal miners, perpetuate the crisis. Of 1,190 illegal miners arrested between 2023 and October 2025, only 35 have been prosecuted.

He cited political interference from MMDCEs, security officials, and other authorities undermining enforcement efforts. “The fight is being undermined from within,” he stated, urging the President to hold district authorities accountable.

Mr. Donkor proposed ten urgent actions for national intervention, including fully resourcing enforcement agencies, tracking mining equipment, decentralizing NAIMOS, reforming licensing systems, protecting forests and watercourses as high-security zones, empowering the Forestry Commission with para-military authority, strengthening alternative livelihoods, and reinvigorating civic education through the NCCE.

He stressed that the solutions are clear, but political courage is missing. He concluded by framing galamsey as a profound violation of human rights and intergenerational justice.

“If we allow our forests to fall and our rivers to die, we are not only failing the environment—we are violating the rights of present and future generations,” Donkor said.

“Let history record that when our rivers cried, we listened. And when our forests fell, we stood up.”

 

Source:Joseph Wemakor