The Minister for Lands and Natural Resources, Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah, has declared an unwavering commitment to fight illegal mining activities in the country with integrity.
“I would choose to fight with integrity and die than being corrupted in this dangerous work that will destroy all of us. And that is the pledge we have for the people of Ghana.”
Speaking to journalists shortly after making a 16-kilometre journey on the Ankobra River on Thursday as part of his working visit to illegal mining sites in Weatern Region, the Minister said: “We are going to continue on. We will not waver, we will not stop.”
Explaining operational achievements chalked by his administration, the Minister revealed that seized excavators have been destroyed in some cases to deter powerful forces that are working in the dark to spur offenders on.
“And our next phase is continuing to fish them out. And we are going to continue to fight all the way—those sponsors, those financiers—until we win this fight,” he remarked.
According to the Ellembelle Member of Parliament, who has made the fight against illegal mining activities in the country his commitment as part of nation building, the men in uniform working assidously have not only been tactical but results oriented.
“So, I am really, really grateful for the work that you are doing and your team, and to let you know that we are very proud of what you’re doing. May you continue to do what you’re doing to make us see the progress,” he said, adding: “The people of Ghana are with you. They are with you. They see what you are doing. And we are not stopping. They know how these rivers looked like two years ago, and they know it now.
“If we are able to remove 3,000 changfan machines within this short period, if we are able to do over 300 arrests just on river bodies and destroy all these makeshift equipment and all the activities here within this period—you know what? It gives us hope that we are on the right course,” he said.
‘Operation Water Shield’
Mr Armah-Kofi Buah paid the working visit to see the progress of work being done by National Anti Illegal Mining Operations Secretariat (NAIMOS).
The Secretariat, he underscored, is making joint operations which is between NAIMOS and the Navy Special Forces.
The operational tag line along the river is “Operation Water Shield”.
The Minister recalled the situation of the past and how the whole area had been turned into a mining enterprise with wanton dissipation of the land, water body, forests with very little regard to environmental consequences of degradation and pollution.
“I must say that I am quite impressed with the progress so far. If you had actually visited the Ankobra in the last one year, where the whole river was basically a workshop where Changfan machines were being manufactured left and right and were all over the river body, today, I can tell you that through all the mileage we’ve covered, the Ankobra is completely cleared of changfan machines, cleared of other makeshift equipment.”
He continued: “I am reliably being informed that we have close to 3,000 machines that have been cleared, not only on the Ankobra, Offin, and other rivers. Over 237 arrests, with 144 of them being foreign nationals. It clearly shows that we are turning the corner. We are using more intelligence-led operations. We are being very intentional about these operations, and the results are showing. Very clearly, we have shifted from the sporadic raids and moved into permanent deployments that are actually showing these results.”
In line with intense activities, he observed nobody will deny that progress is not being made.
“In fact, we are making substantial progress against the fight against illegal mining. You have to simply come to the Ankobra and look at what the Ankobra looked like last year as a makeshift, and today it is clear. We have not gotten to that point where we want to see the river blue, but I think we’ve made great progress in clearing all the changfan machines and the thugs that were wielding guns—they are all gone.
“Today, we don’t see thugs along the Ankobra that were pointing guns at security forces, because, they know they will pay a price, and they are going to pay a price.”
The Lands Minister commended head of the security team, Colonel Appiah, and the Special Forces, expressing ride in the work dine so far.
Regarding national support and the political will, the Minister said: “The President has told me to inform you that he is very, very interested in what you are doing, and he is rooting for us to succeed.”
Mr Armah-Kofi Buah expressed desire to see a shift that he will be proud of.
“A lot of the young people that last year were here have all moved into cooperative mining and joined small-scale mining programs. We have combined in training, building capacity, and basically showing a lot of all these young people that there’s a better way of looking for gold. You can look for gold without destroying our water bodies and our forests. You can look for the gold without damaging our environment. You can look for gold responsibly and sustainably. And that is the future we are looking for. So, I think the combination of the initiatives we’ve taken is showing results. We are not where we want to be, but I bet you if you ask me of what we have achieved against what we inherited, I can tell you that Ankobra is an example. Today, what I’ve seen… Ankobra is very clear and smooth, and we can sail without any obstruction. It is clear we are winning this fight and we believe that the people of Ghana are with us. The road ahead is not easy. It also requires us to rededicate ourselves to fight this fight with integrity,” he concluded.