Lands and Natural Resources Minister Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah says weak enforcement under the erstwhile Nana Akufo-Addo administration left illegal mining, popularly known as galamsey, unchecked, with only 4% of 2023–2024 arrests leading to prosecution.
Speaking at a stakeholder engagement on illegal mining convened by President John Dramani Mahama in Accra on Friday, October 3, the Minister highlighted that out of 845 arrests made over the two years, only 35 cases were successfully prosecuted.
You think your government is soft on crime? Imagine hauling over 800 suspected illegal miners out of the bush, only for over 96 percent of them to simply walk free. Ghana’s costly war on galamsey was never lost in the remote forest; it collapsed inside the courtroom.
Hon. Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah, a prominent MP, recently dropped the figures that confirm what everyone suspected. He revealed in Parliament that of the over 800 people arrested during the intense anti-galamsey clampdown effort, only less than 40 had been successfully prosecuted (Per Parliament of Ghana, February 2025).
That is the entire story. The security operations-the ones with the military on the ground, the tough talk-created massive optics. Yet, the entire legal flank of the offensive was practically non-existent.
But, you cannot miss the context: this crisis continues to devastate Ghana’s environment. Illegal small-scale mining has contaminated major rivers like the Pra and the Ankobra, leaving the water running thick like overcooked palm oil.
And… the country is paying for this legal lethargy. Reports indicate that over 500 excavators seized from illegal miners vanished without a trace in a scandal that rocked the nation back in 2020 (Per ISS Africa, September 2024). The lack of accountability appears systemic, not accidental.
Yet, leaders still assure the public that the fight continues, declaring the mining chaos a "national emergency." You wonder if the judiciary received the memo, anyway.
With key state officials and political financiers having previously been implicated but not prosecuted, one must ask: is the current administration truly ready to jail the big fish, or will the small fry continue to be the only catch?
You can see why the Acting Chief Justice recently urged the swift prosecution of illegal miners in this video. GALAMSEY CLAMPDOWN: Acting Chief Justice urges swift prosecution of illegal miners.
Source: https://citinewsroom.com/2025/10/galamsey-crackdown-collapsed-under-akufo-addo-only-4-of-arrests-prosecuted-buah/
Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4eyiMJNd8ng