By Sarah Baafi
The Minister for Lands and Natural Resources, Hon. Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah, has urged the media to play a pivotal role in combating illegal mining (galamsey) during a meeting with representatives from major media houses on Monday, March 24, 2025.
The engagement aimed to demystify the complexities of galamsey and rally media support to address its devastating impact on water bodies and forest reserves.
Highlighting the severity of the issue, the Minister disclosed alarming statistics, including turbidity levels in water treated by the Ghana Water Company Limited reaching up to 12,000 NTU far beyond the permissible limit of 500 NTU and land degradation equivalent to 7,500 football fields.
He also revealed that nine forest reserves were entirely under illegal miners’ control when the Mahama administration took office.
Hon. Armah-Kofi Buah outlined a five-pillar strategy to tackle galamsey: enforcement of laws, structural overhaul of monitoring teams, stakeholder engagement with traditional leaders and local authorities, deployment of technology for real-time tracking, and public sensitization to foster collective responsibility. He emphasized decentralizing the licensing regime to involve traditional rulers and District Security Councils in mining approvals.
The Minister called on media practitioners to remain vocal and objective in the fight against galamsey while avoiding politicization. Media representatives pledged their support, committing to use their platforms to amplify government efforts in addressing this national crisis.
