Ghana is Simply Destroying Itself.

By Jolomi Peppeh

It’s Sunday, September 22nd, 2024. Hundreds of protesters are filing through the streets of Ghana’s capital, Accra. They’re not just holding placards: some are carrying plastic bottles filled with murky water — the kind you wouldn’t dare drink. As the crowd marches, police descend on them, arresting dozens.

At first glance, you’d assume they were protesting against the government. But that wasn’t the case. In fact, these protesters were demanding something basic, something obvious even — they were asking the government to save Ghana’s rivers and forests from being destroyed.

Over the past decade or so, Ghana has seen a surge in illegal gold mining, known locally as galamsey. This mad gold rush is slowly poisoning the country and threatening its very existence.

About 60 percent of Ghana’s freshwater sources have been contaminated with toxic chemicals like mercury, arsenic, and lead, which can stay in the environment for hundreds of years and accumulate in plants, fish, and other animals. Researchers say if nothing changes, Ghana may have to start importing clean water by 2030.

As troubling as that is, there’s more: the country has also lost more than 100,000 acres of farmland and forests the size of cities like Berlin and Lagos to illegal gold mining.

To put it simply, galamsey has become an existential threat to Ghana. But how did things get so bad?

1. Ghana, the land of gold

Well, let’s start from the very beginning. If you know anything about Ghana, then you know that it is considered the land of gold. Ghana is Africa’s top gold producer and ranks sixth globally. There’s an old saying that goes, “There’s no land in Ghana which doesn’t have gold, even in the top soil. Ghana is gold.”

That shiny yellow metal has been mined in the region for thousands of years. In the past, it was used as currency and traded widely.

To the people of Ghana, gold isn’t just a commodity; it holds a special place in local cultures. One of the most important cultural symbols of the Ashanti, Ghana’s largest ethnic group, is a golden stool. According to folklore, this chair was conjured from the sky by a powerful priest. It is seen as an embodiment of the Ashanti people’s collective soul.

Gold also symbolizes prestige and power in Ghana. To this day, at festivals and other cultural events, you’ll find Ashanti chiefs and their retinue decked out in massive gold chains, rings, bracelets, and anklets. They often also carry intricately designed golden objects that depict adages or historical events.

The practice of Ghanaian chiefs wearing gold is not new. Early Arab travelers to the region around the 8th to 11th century wrote about royal dogs with golden collars and officials wearing massive gold nuggets around their wrists — so large that attendants had to help them hold up their hands.

Gold helped the Ashanti kingdom to build powerful armies and become one of the most dominant powers in the region in the pre-colonial era. When Europeans first arrived in Ghana in the 15th century, they were amazed by the abundance of gold in the area. This inspired the British to name the country the Gold Coast. And that name persisted until the 19th century, when Ghana gained political independence.

Martin Ayisi, the head of Ghana’s Minerals Commission, described the value of gold in Ghanaian culture in an interview with CNN in 2024, saying: “Gold is everything to us, it’s part of our DNA. Our whole life is tied to gold.”

By now, you get the picture. Ghana is rich in gold. The country’s relationship with this precious metal stretches way back into time, and it’s baked into local cultures.

Traditionally, the people of Ghana used mining techniques like panning. They even tunneled into rocks to find gold. Despite mining for generations, they didn’t pollute rivers or destroy whole forests. But times have changed, and so has the way people search for gold.

The British were the first to launch large-scale gold-mining operations in Ghana and industrialize the sector. But most of the profits made at the time were siphoned out of the country. When Ghana gained independence in 1957, the government was hoping to use the proceeds from its gold mining operations to benefit the young nation. However, things didn’t pan out as they had hoped.

By 1983, Ghana’s gold production had dropped to just 6.8 tons. For context, about 20 years earlier, in 1964, Ghana produced 28.5 tons of gold, and just last year, in 2025, the country produced a record 187.5 tons.

Faced with this steep drop in production, Ghana’s leaders concluded that the best course of action was to liberalize the gold mining sector. And one way they did this was by introducing the Small-Scale Gold Mining Act of 1989, which basically allowed artisanal miners to obtain licenses and dig for gold.

For years, most of Ghana’s gold has been mined by large companies like Gold Fields, Newmont, and AngloGold Ashanti. However, artisanal miners, both licensed and unlicensed, have always existed, operating mostly in the background.

That is no longer the case today, unfortunately. Illegal small-scale gold mining, or galamsey, has exploded in recent years and has become the center of public discussion in Ghana for all the wrong reasons.

While the exact number of galamsey sites in the country is highly debated, they are thought to number in the thousands and employ more than one million people.

For context, in 2020, licensed small-scale mining operations were responsible for up to 35 percent of Ghana’s gold output and supported over 10 percent of its population. Yet, the size of licensed small-scale mining operations in the country is thought to be significantly smaller than that of galamsey. This should give you a hint about the sheer magnitude of this problem.

If you were to take a road trip from Ghana’s capital, Accra, to its second-largest city, Kumasi, you’d drive past dozens of shops for gold vendors in the little towns that dot the highway. And, just on the outskirts of some of these towns, you’ll find water bodies visibly polluted by illegal mining. Some rivers have become muddy brown. Sometimes, you’ll even find abandoned gold mining machinery sitting right in the middle of the water.

But that’s just a part of the problem. Galamsey operators are slicing apart forests and farms. In some communities, miners are digging just a few feet away from the walls of people’s homes.

The destruction of the environment is so severe that international NGO WaterAid has described it as an “ecocide.” According to some estimates, Ghana loses over $2.3 billion every year to galamsey, a significant amount, however you look at it.

Galamsey is bad news for Ghana. So, it begs the question: why can’t they just stop the practice? Well, that’s where things start to get a little tricky.

2. The origins of galamsey

Small-scale gold mining has been a thing in Ghana for decades. In fact, the term ‘galamsey’ actually means “gather and sell” or “gather them and sell.” There has always been a thin line between legal and illegal small-scale mining in Ghana. In the past, galamsey operations mostly consisted of small groups of young men and women working together to dig, pan, and wash gold by hand.

However, things started to shift about two decades ago, when Chinese prospectors took an interest in Ghana’s illegal gold-mining sector. Working with local collaborators, they expanded gold-mining sites and introduced earth-moving machinery and other sophisticated equipment for detecting gold.

Since then, Ghana’s illegal gold mining sector has taken off, spurred by Chinese investment. A 2017 report by the Global Initiative, a Swiss-based organization that tracks organized crime, said there were Chinese mining communities in Ghana with signs and adverts in Mandarin. Many locals were reportedly even fluent in the language.

In 2025, a TIME Magazine report estimated that 50,000 Chinese gold miners were operating in Ghana. Other foreign nationals are also involved in galamsey, including those from neighboring countries like Burkina Faso and Côte d’Ivoire.

The use of powerful machinery allows miners to extract more gold from the earth, but it also damages the environment at an alarming rate and renders farmland unusable. Galamsey miners also use chemicals such as mercury and cyanide to extract gold, thereby polluting soil and water bodies.

Considering the catastrophic effects of illegal mining in Ghana, it’s easy to blame the people who engage in it. And, rightfully so. But that perspective overlooks an important nuance. See, economic insecurity is one of the biggest factors driving people to work in illegal gold mining fields in Ghana, especially in rural areas.

Ghana is currently recovering from one of its worst economic crises. Between 2022 and 2024, the country experienced super-high inflation, its currency collapsed, and the government even had to seek an IMF bailout.

Confronted with no way to earn a living, many people had little hesitation about joining the gold rush. In some cases, farmers turned their cocoa farms into illegal mining sites, and teenagers skipped school to work in mines. Galamsey workers earn around $100 per week, which is up to eight times the minimum wage in Ghana.

Steven, a local galamsey miner, told TIME Magazine that: “I also work as a driver and grow plantain, cassava, and coconut on my family farm. But the money here [from galamsey] is better.”

The rise in gold prices has also created more incentive for the galamsey business in Ghana. Since 2024, gold prices have been climbing, breaking the $5,000 mark in January 2026.

I should note that until April 2025, gold dealers in Ghana were not legally required to declare whether the gold sold was sourced from legal or illegal mines. Investigators say gold from galamsey mines is smuggled out of Ghana, where it’s mixed with legal gold and sold on the market. The top countries where this gold usually ends up include China, India, and the United Arab Emirates.

In a 2013 documentary by Al-Jazeera, a man admitted that, alone, he could smuggle up to $40 million worth of gold out of Ghana every month.

Ultimately, yes, individual citizens do bear a lot of responsibility for the destruction caused by galamsey. But Ghana’s government also deserves a share of the blame. Between 2017 and 2025, under ex-President Nana Akuffo-Addo, the country issued 2,000 new licenses to gold miners.

Before then, the government had issued only 90 licenses since 1988. This means that over eight years, Ghana issued more than 20 times as many mining licenses as it had in nearly 30 years. In 2020 alone, Ghana issued more than 50 times as many licenses as in the previous year. That sounds absolutely ridiculous.

Today, there are illegal gold mining sites in 13 of Ghana’s 16 regions. In some mining hotspots, like Adumanu and Obuasi in the Ashanti Region, you’ll find large areas covered with galamsey pits and muddy water.

Critics claim that high-profile politicians and other powerful figures are involved in the galamsey business, which is why they can easily secure these licenses.

In addition to handing out an obscene number of mining licenses in a short time frame, Ghana’s previous government also opened up nature reserves, like the Nkrabia Forest Reserve, to galamsey operators.

While most people think galamsey is only a problem in the southern part of the country, mainly in the Ashanti, Western, Central, and Eastern regions, it’s also happening in the northern part of the country, such as the Upper East, Upper West, Savannah, and Bono regions.

In a report published in 2024, a galamsey miner at Bui National Park in the Savannah Region told Enact Observer that foreign nationals had been mining in the area before they took it over. According to him, “People from Burkina Faso and Cote d’Ivoire started mining in these areas first. When we learnt that they [were] finding gold, we moved there because it’s under Ghana’s soil.”

Besides damaging the environment, the sudden popularity of galamsey has led to a rise in crime and violence. There have been several reports in the local media of robberies and shootouts between galamsey operators and law enforcement as authorities try to curb illegal mining.

Meanwhile, both security experts and Ghanaian officials say they fear extremists from the Sahel may take an interest in Ghana’s illegal gold mining sector and try to gain a foothold in one of the many mining towns between Ghana and Burkina Faso or Cote d’Ivoire. Extremists are already believed to be involved in smuggling weapons, fertilizer, and other things between these countries.

3. Life in galamsey fields

There are several players in the galamsey business. For starters, there are those who fund the work or own the mining site. These people are usually not directly involved in digging for gold. They just bankroll the operation and take the bulk of the profits.

Next to the financiers are the people responsible for the day-to-day operations at galamsey sites. They decide who works, and for how long. And, at the lowest rung of this structure are the workers, the people who wade in filthy water and go hundreds of feet underground to mine for gold.

Galamsey operations need a lot of water. So, miners usually dig for gold near a river, stream, or lake that they can use to wash the excavated material. They would clear trees, crush stones, and use machines to dig up the topsoil and subsoil in an area. All of this sand is then transported to a washing area where water is pumped to rinse the soil in search of nuggets and tiny pieces of gold.

It’s at this stage that galamsey miners use heavy metals like mercury. They would mix the gold particles in the excavated soil with chemicals to form a soft, silvery alloy. This makes it easy to separate gold from the sand. All you have to do later is heat the amalgam to evaporate the mercury, and then you have pure gold.

Just so it’s clear, the wastewater from all of this goes straight back into the river or stream where the mining operation is taking place. There are no attempts to treat the wastewater or even prevent it from contaminating the larger water body.

One of the biggest differences between galamsey and legal, large-scale gold mining in Ghana is that mining companies usually concentrate their activities in one area or a few areas. They dig deep into the earth in their search for gold. And, there are regulations that ensure they don’t pollute the environment.

With galamsey, miners usually dig shallow holes across a wide area. When they’re done with a site, they just move on. They don’t fill in the holes they’ve dug. This makes it impossible to use the land for farming or anything else.

Even if people were to try to fill in the mining pits, they’re unlikely to be able to cultivate anything, as the area has been poisoned with toxic chemicals. As a result, abandoned galamsey fields are usually left as they are. You’ll find a series of empty pits filled with murky water. Sometimes, you may even find broken mining machinery in the area. There have been cases of people, mostly children, drowning in abandoned galamsey pits.

I should note that not all galamsey mining is done in shallow holes. Some miners dig really deep into the earth.

Boakye Andrews, a galamsey miner, told National Geographic that some mining pits are as deep as 10 to 15 cellphone towers stacked on top of each other, which is well over 2,000 feet.

Hundreds of workers descend into these incredibly deep mining pits, and some stay there for days or even months, breaking up huge stones that are transported to the surface, where they are crushed and washed with chemicals to extract gold.

There’s little value for safety in galamsey fields. In a 2024 report, CNN described the safety precautions a galamsey miner was taking: she wore a plastic sheet over her torso and rubbed a bit of clay on her face to protect her skin. Meanwhile, a man who heats gold amalgam to separate the mercury told CNN that he wraps a cloth around his nose to protect himself from the deadly vapor and warns his neighbors to stay away while he’s working.

It’s not uncommon for workers to die in galamsey mines. Boakye told National Geographic that when workers die in the deep galamsey pits at Adumanu, it doesn’t stop the mining operation.

“Anytime somebody dies, the person will [be] blasted into pieces… If you are about 20 and five die on the spot, you still keep working because the gold has to come to the surface. So you ignore the accident and keep working. He’s dead. You can’t do anything about it.”

There’s no official consensus on the annual death toll from galamsey; however, there have been several reports of casualties over the years.

4. The threat to Ghana’s water supply

One of the most glaring effects of galamsey in Ghana is the pollution of rivers and lakes that many communities depend on. Ghana has three water basins, and they’ve all been affected by galamsey. This means most river bodies in the country are contaminated, including major rivers like the Offin, Pra, Birim, Ankobra, and even the Black Volta.

In October 2025, an official from the Ghana Water Company told local news channel TV3 that the only river that isn’t currently unpolluted is the Volta River.

The introduction of toxic chemicals like cyanide and mercury has made various rivers undrinkable, killed millions of fish, and robbed large swathes of land of their fertility.

According to Ghana’s Water Resources Commission, by 2017, well over 60 percent of the country’s water bodies were already polluted with heavy metals. There’s no telling the extent of the pollution today, nearly a decade later.

In an interview with a local radio station, George Manful, a former top official at Ghana’s Environmental Protection Agency, said some of these chemicals, like mercury, can stay in the environment for up to a thousand years. Lamenting on the situation, he warned that, “We are slowly poisoning ourselves.”

Rivers that used to run clear are now brownish-yellow and toxic. They have become completely unrecognizable. One of the water bodies that has suffered this fate is the Offin River in the Ashanti Region.

Speaking about the river, ex-member of Parliament, Wiredu Dankwa, told the Society of African Missions, that: “In the past, the river was our main source of drinking water and farming. Now, it’s milky and unusable. Fish species have died, and the land is riddled with dangerous cracks that could collapse on miners.”

In September 2025, the Ghana Coalition Against Galamsey warned that up to 20 million people in the country run the risk losing access to clean water due to galamsey. Ghana’s ex-minister for lands and natural resources, John Peter Amewu, sounded the alarm back in 2018 that Ghana is at risk of having to import clean water by 2030, which is just four years from today. And, unfortunately, not much has changed since then.

In March 2026, Ghana’s current minister for lands and natural resources, Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah, said some foreign embassies are already importing the water they use.

Buah noted how alarming the situation is, saying: “Our water bodies are dying. We’ve listened to experts and environmentalists explain the consequences — yet the destruction continues.”

Meanwhile, Ghana’s Water Company has admitted that it’s unable to meet the demand in parts of the country. The agency has reported high turbidity levels and said it’s having to use “unusually high volumes of chemicals” to purify water.

An official from the Ghana Water Company’s plant in Odaso, a small town in the Ashanti Region, told a local media outlet that up to 60 percent of the water extracted for treatment at the facility is discarded due to severe pollution.

In January 2025, the company was forced to shut down a water treatment plant in the Western Region due to galamsey. The facility reportedly supplied over 200,000 people with water.

A statement released by the manager of the Bonsa Headworks after it was shut down said: “We have tried all we could but to no avail, hence the shutdown. The river is still being monitored for acceptable parameters to enable us to restart production, and until then, the plant remains closed.”

While the Ghana Water Company remains operational in most parts of the country, it’s not always reliable. In September 2025, it proposed a 280 percent increase in water tariffs to cover rising costs resulting from galamsey pollution. But the government shut this down, approving only a 15.92 percent price hike. As a result, the water utility company has announced that Ghanaians should expect disruptions in its service — at least for the time being.

5. How galamsey is wiping out forests and farmlands in Ghana

Galamsey is not only a threat to Ghana’s water bodies, but its forests are also at risk of being erased.

In November 2025, the Ghana Institute of Foresters announced that up to 50 protected reserves in the country, including one wildlife reserve, had been severely affected by illegal mining. For context, Ghana has just 288 protected reserves, so that’s about 20 percent of them.

Activists say the country has lost thousands of acres of forest — the size of major cities — to illegal mining. Most disturbingly, this is all happening at a time when Ghana is battling intense heat waves due to climate change.

While addressing Ghana’s Parliament in February 2025, Buah said an estimated 5,000 hectares of forest land have been devastated by illegal mining.

It’s not just forests being threatened by galamsey operations; farmlands have not been spared. Illegal miners buy up farms and convert them into galamsey fields. They sometimes even intimidate farmers into selling or willfully encroach on their farmland.

One of the most common tricks galamsey miners use to compel farmers to sell their land is by flooding it with contaminated water from mining fields. A research paper published in the Journal of Rural Studies in 2023 includes a quote from a farmer explaining how he was pushed to sell his farm.

He said: “I did not want to sell my land because, personally, I despise galamsey. I have been to nearby towns, and the destructive effects of galamsey have always been appalling. However, all the farms bordering my farm had been sold to galamsey operators. I went to my farm and discovered that the farm had been flooded by water from the galamsey sites. I then had no option but to sell the land to the miners.”

Once they acquire a farm, galamsey miners would clear the trees and other vegetation, then dig several mining pits and pump them full of water.

Kwaku Asare is one of several farmers in the Central Region who sold his farm to galamsey miners and ended up being unable to grow anything later because the land has been polluted. He told National Geographic that: “When the Chinese came, they told me that my plants were not yielding anymore because there was so much gold under the soil.”

While all farmlands have generally been affected by galamsey, cocoa farms have been particularly decimated.

See, Ghana is the world’s second largest producer of cocoa, responsible for about 15 to 20 percent of the global supply. Most of the cocoa farms in Ghana are concentrated in the southern part of the country — this same area has now become a hotspot for illegal mining.

According to Ghana’s Cocoa Board, the country has lost about two percent of its total cocoa cultivation area to galamsey. In 2021, the agency said Ghana had lost about 19,000 hectares of farmland in cocoa-growing areas to galamsey. However, most estimates put the total size of cocoa farms destroyed by illegal miners at over 100,000 acres.

In February 2026, the head of the Concerned Farmers Association of Ghana told local radio station Joy FM that the association would not hesitate to report cocoa farmers who sell their land to galamsey operators.

It’s easy to throw the blame at these farmers for their complicity in this problem, but the issue is more complex than it seems.

Running a cocoa farm requires significant upfront capital, and many farmers don’t have this money. So, they take loans to operate their farms, and since they have no machines, they rely on manual labor to maintain them, which can be tedious.

Despite all of this hard work, some farmers claim they barely break even after settling their loans and paying their workers.

Frederick Darko, a cocoa farmer, told Equal Trade Alliance during an interview in 2025 that: “You can sell maybe ten bags of cocoa and earn about six hundred dollars, but that money goes straight to paying workers. If someone discovers gold on their land, they can earn that same amount in just three days. So they cut the trees, destroy the land, get the gold, and move on. It’s because there’s no motivation in cocoa farming. When you’re not getting anything out of the work, it’s easy to give up.”

The widespread leveling of farmlands is one of the biggest threats to Ghana’s cocoa production. In the 2023-2024 season, the country produced just 429,000 metric tons of cocoa. This is less than 55 percent of Ghana’s usual output, marking a 15-year low.

In addition to cocoa farmers losing their land, the water sources they use to irrigate their farms have been contaminated. As a result, some farmers are already having to transport water from various sources to their farms.

Ghana’s cocoa industry is literally hanging in the balance. There’s a very strong possibility that, in the coming years, the country could lose its position as one of the world’s leading producers of cocoa if the situation goes unchecked.

6. ‘We’re slowly poisoning ourselves’

We can all agree that the environmental pollution from illegal mining in Ghana is really problematic, but the human cost of galamsey may be the most alarming aspect of all of this.

When farms are destroyed, farmers, of course, lose their jobs, which is catastrophic for them and their families. Beyond this, the destruction of farmlands threatens Ghana’s food security.

For years, the trend in Ghana has been for people from urban areas to travel to the countryside to buy food items. However, due to the impact of galamsey, in 2018, National Geographic reported that people from villages with heavy illegal mining, such as Obuasi, were traveling to other areas to buy uncontaminated food.

If the pollution of the countryside continues at this rate, the country will have no choice but to depend more on imported food.

But, it doesn’t stop there. The pollution of some of Ghana’s most important rivers is a ticking time bomb waiting to go off.

See, heavy metals like mercury, cyanide, arsenic, and lead don’t just disappear when they leech into the soil and water. No! They stay in the environment for a long time — hundreds of years in some cases and are absorbed by plants, fish, and livestock exposed to them. When people eventually consume these plants or animals, they ingest these chemicals.

In a 2021 study published in the Journal of Environmental and Public Health, researchers tested fish species from the Tano River and found high levels of heavy metals such as mercury, arsenic, and chromium in their muscles.

To be clear, these chemicals are toxic to humans. They can cause severe and lasting damage to organs and the nervous system. They can also cause cancer. Pregnant women and children are particularly at risk as these chemicals can lead to birth defects, developmental delays, and neurological damage.

Despite this, children are often exposed to mercury at galamsey sites. There have even been reports of children handling the chemical with their bare hands.

While experts say more research is needed to understand how galamsey is affecting the health of Ghanaians, the warning signs are already as clear as day.

According to a report by CNN, there have been a growing number of cases of birth defects among women who work in galamsey pits and those in communities where illegal mining is prevalent. A local health expert told the news channel that he has delivered several babies with birth defects in recent years. In one case, he said a baby was born with its abdominal wall not fully formed, so you could see its intestines.

“We didn’t use to see a lot of these things until galamsey became very rampant. I don’t think it’s a coincidence.”

Meanwhile, a Ghanaian forensic pathologist has reported finding mercury, cyanide, arsenic, and other heavy metals in the placentas of babies born with birth defects. He also reported finding these chemicals in samples taken from deceased mothers and their fetuses.

Diana Agyeiwaa told CNN that she believes the complications she experienced during childbirth were the result of drinking water from the Tano River, which has become heavily polluted.

Agyeiwaa thinks other mothers in her community were also affected by the contaminated water. “I met one woman when she delivered a baby; its nose was half. I’ve seen a lot of complications.”

The Paediatric Society of Ghana has put out several statements over the years, highlighting the dangers of galamsey to mothers and children. In an open letter to the President of Ghana published in February 2026, the group said: “illegal mining poses a severe threat to children’s health and brain development, with irreversible consequences for Ghana’s future.”

Galamsey also poses a serious health risk to miners. See, workers in galamsey pits operate with barely any protective clothing. This means they’re exposed to high concentrations of these toxic chemicals on a near-daily basis. And, to be clear, it’s not just men who work in illegal mining pits. There are lots of women and children working at these sites. It’s no surprise that galamsey workers often experience skin diseases and other health conditions.

In 2024, WaterAid surveyed illegal miners in the Upper West Region of Ghana and found that up to 79 percent of them had health issues like chest pains.

In 2020, a team of researchers found that the concentration of mercury vapor indoors in homes where gold amalgam is heated was up to 10 times higher than it was in other homes. Being exposed to mercury in this way can lead to respiratory issues and neurological damage. It can even cause organ failure and birth defects.

Akosua, a 30-year-old lady who has been working in galamsey fields for four years, told CNN that: “When you get sick, you go to the hospital, get medication, and then you come back and continue with work because when you stop, there’s nothing for you to do.”

7. The price society is paying for galamsey

Ghana is one of the most peaceful countries in Africa, but the sudden popularity of illegal mining may be changing that status. Galamsey has led to a rise in crime, violence, and drug abuse.

Miners are known to abuse opioids routinely, but, according to the Global Initiative, they also use much harder drugs like cocaine and methamphetamine. Galamsey workers claim these drugs give them the courage to look past the life-threatening nature of their work and mine for several hours daily.

It’s not just drugs; miners are known to be heavily armed. With the influx of Chinese miners into the country years ago came guns. At first, Chinese miners and their Ghanaian accomplices claimed they got guns to protect themselves from armed robbers.

However, today, armed thugs at galamsey mining sites have become such a threat that law enforcement officers struggle to control them.

There have been a handful of cases of armed miners attacking journalists who venture close to their illegal mining sites. In some cases, military officers guarding galamsey miners have been accused of perpetuating the attacks.

Buah told Ghana’s parliament in February 2025 that armed illegal miners have taken over nine different protected forests and were preventing forest guards from accessing them. In 2025, Ghana had to permanently deploy its military to guard 44 mining hotspots and water bodies.

Unfortunately, such brazen disregard for the law has become very common in the last five years. In some cases, clashes between forestry officers and armed miners have involved deadly shootouts, resulting in casualties.

There have even been reports of galamsey miners exchanging fire with soldiers sent to raid their sites. Fighting has also broken out between galamsey miners and aggrieved members of local communities who want them kicked out of their neighborhoods.

Today, galamsey miners are believed to have sophisticated weapons. When security forces raid illegal mining sites, they often uncover a cache of weapons. A journalist, who took part in one such raid in 2018, said his team found a cache of ammunition — enough to last for an entire month — at just one site.

These guns don’t just stay at mining sites; they ultimately find their way into local communities, emboldening criminals and upending security. Although galamsey is mostly viewed as a threat to the environment and economy, it’s also a national security risk.

In 2024, renowned Ghanaian journalist and radio host Kwame Sefa Kayi commented on the implications of this saying: “You know what I fear? Do you know that we are creating a rebel armed force? We are creating rebels out of this [galamsey]. So let’s say about four hundred people are wielding 100 guns; these galamseyers are armed. So, bit by bit, by the time we realise, they’ve turned into what is known as a ragtag army, who are soldiers not properly trained but are armed and know how to fire rifles.”

Meanwhile, the president of the West Africa Action Network on Small Arms, Ken Kinney, says Ghana’s current laws are not designed to address the proliferation of weapons in the country. According to him, new legislation is important to control access to guns.

8. How Ghana is fighting galamsey

While a few profit from it, most Ghanaians are vehemently opposed to illegal mining due to its negative effects on the environment. There have been numerous protests across the country, demanding an end to the practice. Artists, musicians, university students, politicians, labor unions, religious groups, and even traditional leaders have condemned galamsey.

Several campaigns have sprung up in recent years to stamp out illegal mining. In some communities, residents have banded together to form vigilante groups that patrol the forests and protect different areas from illegal miners.

Successive Ghanaian governments have deployed various strategies to combat illegal mining. For example, in 2006, the country updated its laws to stipulate that only Ghanaian citizens can get mining licenses and permits. But that didn’t change much — foreign prospectors simply hired locals to stand in for them. The government later banned all small-scale mining for nearly two years between 2017 and 2018. But that didn’t solve the problem.

The authorities realized they needed to take things up a notch. So, security agencies were deployed to raid galamsey sites and arrest miners. They also seized or burned their equipment, including excavators. So far, thousands have been arrested. But, somehow, galamsey continues to thrive. So, how is this possible?

Well, for starters, when security officers raid illegal mining sites, the people they arrest are usually low-level workers — not the people who own, fund, or manage the operations at these sites. These low-level workers are replaceable, and that’s exactly what happens once the authorities nab them.

Hundreds of Chinese miners have been arrested during raids on galamsey sites, and they were always deported. But critics questioned the effectiveness of that strategy, forcing the government to change its stance. Now, foreigners arrested for illegal mining will serve their sentence in Ghana.

In 2024, the government revealed that a total of 76 people, including 18 foreign nationals, had been convicted for illegal mining in Ghana since August 2021.

In one of the most widely-reported galamsey cases to date, in 2023, a Ghanaian court sentenced a Chinese woman labeled “Galamsey Queen” to jail. She was found guilty of running illegal mining operations in Ghana.

She had originally been arrested in 2017 and was deported from the country. But, like many Chinese nationals nabbed during raids and deported, she returned to Ghana and continued her illegal mining operations before she was ultimately re-arrested in 2022.

Pundits believe the government’s decision to arrest and prosecute such a high-profile figure is a good indication of its determination to combat galamsey.

Meanwhile, many believe corruption is one of the biggest reasons galamsey continues to linger in Ghana. Police officers and local authorities have been accused of accepting bribes and turning a blind eye to galamsey operations. There have been cases of suspects mysteriously being released from custody and their cases stalling. Sometimes, the mining equipment seized during raids just happens to make its way back into the hands of miners. Soldiers have even been found guarding galamsey sites.

It’s well-known in Ghana that some politicians and other powerful figures are allegedly involved in galamsey. So, sometimes, when security forces arrest miners, they simply make a few calls to secure their release. Many insist this is why miners can operate with impunity.

A farmer, who asked not to be identified, told the BBC that the only way to stop the scourge is to arrest the powerful individuals behind galamsey. “When I see arrests by the military in poor communities, it’s just a symbolic gesture of appearing to maintain law and order. The people making big money out of it are in offices, not on the fields.”

Under former President Akuffo Addo, Ghana launched ambitious educational campaigns to teach miners about the harmful effects of galamsey. The government also started deploying soldiers and other security forces, empowering them to confiscate excavators and other machinery from galamsey sites.

In 2025, a new president, John Dramani Mahama, took office in Ghana, and he’s taken several steps to bring illegal mining under control.

First, Ghana has banned foreigners from buying, trading, or exporting gold from its small-scale mining sector. The country has also repealed a law that allowed galamsey miners to operate in its forest reserves.

And, in March 2025, Ghana launched a new program labelled the Blue Water River Guards. Basically, 2,000 Ghanaian youths are being trained and equipped to monitor the country’s rivers and stop galamsey. However, the Blue Water River Guards are not armed, which makes them largely ineffective in stopping armed galamsey miners who have shown that they would not hesitate to shoot.

Perhaps the most significant thing the current government has done to fight galamsey is to set up a new agency, GoldBod, which issues licenses to local traders, sets gold prices, and trains artisanal miners.

Some activists were hoping that Mahama would place a complete ban on small-scale mining or declare a state of emergency over the issue, but he has stopped short of doing that. In an interview with TIME Magazine, the president admitted that more than 1.5 million Ghanaians are involved in galamsey, so banning it would leave them without jobs.

In another interview with Al-Jazeera, Mahama noted that the goal is to help small-scale miners adopt better practices. “There are ways of doing this without destroying the environment in Canada, Australia, and the United States. Technology exists. So why don’t we… train our people to do mining in a way that is safe for the environment?”

Ghana’s current strategy against illegal mining is best captured by a quote from its lands minister Buah, who noted that: “The nation is under no illusion that we can end illegal mining through armed force. What will work is winning the hearts and minds of the people. Through education and dialogue, they will come to realize that destroying our environment is destroying our future.”

9. Why the battle against galamsey keeps failing

It’s clear that most people in Ghana, even those who work in illegal mining pits, know about the dangers to their health and the negative impact that galamsey is having on the environment.

In a survey by WaterAid, 97 percent of galamsey miners agreed that they were destroying the environment and polluting water bodies. But they continue anyway because, for many, it’s a question of survival.

In an interview with National Geographic, Andrews, who is involved in galamsey, explained how his perspective on illegal mining changed when he became an adult.

“When I was young, every time I saw them doing this galamsey work, I said ah…what’s wrong with them? When it came to my turn, I realized that it wasn’t their fault, because they were not getting help from anywhere.”

Now, are there other opportunities for people in Ghana besides illegal mining? Yes, but they are very limited, and they mostly pay a fraction of what galamsey offers.

When you also take into account that there are galamsey miners on social media platforms like TikTok bragging about the money they make and promoting their lifestyle, you’d start to understand why so many young people are drawn to it.

Until there are jobs that pay just as well or people are incentivized not to choose illegal mining, unfortunately, many would continue to go down that path.

To truly end galamsey, it’s also important to go after the financiers and the people who pull the strings. It’s an open secret that many politicians and powerful figures in Ghana are involved in illegal mining — even the former president once admitted this.

You can arrest and prosecute thousands of miners, but if the people bankrolling their operations aren’t also brought to justice, they’ll simply recruit other people who are desperate enough, and the problem will continue. This is exactly what’s happening right now.

Activists also say the government must set stricter requirements for licensed small-scale gold mining and enact harsher punishments to deter people from engaging in galamsey.

Currently, one of the biggest challenges in prosecuting people arrested for illegal mining is that trials are delayed. Sometimes, suspects secure bail and return to the mines to continue digging for gold during the long breaks between their hearing.

Ghana’s Attorney General, Dominic Ayine, said a bill has been proposed to establish new courts for illegal mining cases. The new law will also set strict timelines for adjournments.

Meanwhile, Ghana’s government has called on critics to voice their opinions about its actions in the quest to end illegal mining in the country.

In October last year, during a meeting with civil society organizations, President Mahama charged the people to keep putting pressure on the government, saying: “We need your support. We need your advocacy, your pressure. Continue to put our feet to the fire, and let’s win this fight together. Our great-grandfathers gave us a beautiful country with trees and beautiful rivers, and we should not hand over poisoned water bodies or desecrated forests to our children and grandchildren.”

Conclusion

Galamsey represents an undeclared war on Ghana’s future. The country as we know it could cease to exist if nothing changes. But if you were to visit Ghana today, you would hardly know the country is fighting for its survival. Besides the occasional reminder from an artwork, a song, or a news story, it’s just business as usual.

People admit they feel powerless to stop it and can only hope that those in power make the right choices. There’s a quote in TIME Magazine that captures this sentiment. It’s from a woman whose brother leased her family’s land to galamsey miners. She said: “I’m worried about my kids, but what can we do? Pollution from galamsey is like mosquitoes. It’s just something you have to live with.”

To the credit of the government of Ghana, illegal mining is not as rampant today as it was a few years ago. But it remains a major threat to the nation. In January, President Mahama noted that the appearance of one of Ghana’s main rivers, the Ayensu River, is showing signs of improvement. According to him, positive results were starting to show.

But critics questioned whether there has really been any progress, as the river is still heavily polluted. It’s painfully clear that there’s still a long, long way to go before Ghana rids itself of this problem. It’s also obvious that half-hearted efforts would not get the job done. Hopefully, Ghana rises to the occasion and steers clear of what would be a major catastrophe.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is galamsey?

Galamsey is the local term for illegal small-scale gold mining in Ghana. It involves digging for gold without proper licensing and often using harmful methods that pollute the environment.

How has galamsey affected Ghana’s water supply?

About 60 percent of Ghana’s freshwater sources have been contaminated with toxic chemicals like mercury, arsenic, and lead due to galamsey. This pollution threatens the country’s water supply, with some estimates suggesting Ghana may need to import clean water by 2030.

What role do foreign nationals play in galamsey?

Foreign nationals, particularly from China, Burkina Faso, and Côte d’Ivoire, are heavily involved in galamsey. They often bring in sophisticated equipment and machinery, which accelerates the environmental damage caused by illegal mining.

How has galamsey impacted Ghana’s forests and farmlands?

Ghana has lost over 100,000 acres of farmland and significant portions of its forests to galamsey. This destruction threatens the country’s biodiversity, food security, and economic stability, particularly in the cocoa industry.

What are the health risks associated with galamsey?

Galamsey poses severe health risks, including exposure to toxic chemicals like mercury and cyanide, which can cause birth defects, developmental delays, and neurological damage. Miners and nearby communities are particularly vulnerable to these health issues.

What measures has the Ghanaian government taken to combat galamsey?

The Ghanaian government has deployed security forces to raid galamsey sites, arrested thousands of miners, and implemented educational campaigns. They have also set up new agencies like GoldBod to regulate the small-scale mining sector and launched initiatives like the Blue Water River Guards to monitor rivers.

Why is it difficult to eradicate galamsey in Ghana?

Eradicating galamsey is challenging due to economic insecurity, the involvement of powerful figures, and the lack of alternative job opportunities. Many people turn to galamsey as a means of survival, and corruption often allows illegal mining to continue despite government efforts.

What is the cultural significance of gold in Ghana?

Gold holds a special place in Ghanaian culture, particularly among the Ashanti people. It symbolizes prestige and power and is often used in cultural events and ceremonies. The Ashanti golden stool, for example, is a sacred cultural symbol.

How has galamsey affected Ghana’s cocoa industry?

Galamsey has decimated cocoa farms, leading to a significant drop in cocoa production. Ghana, the world’s second-largest cocoa producer, has lost thousands of acres of farmland to illegal mining, threatening its position in the global cocoa market.

What are the environmental consequences of galamsey?

Galamsey has led to severe environmental degradation, including the pollution of rivers and lakes, deforestation, and the destruction of farmlands. The use of toxic chemicals and heavy machinery has caused long-term damage to Ghana’s ecosystems.

Sources

• Original Places video: Ghana is Simply Destroying Itself.
• https://edition.cnn.com/interactive/asequals/ghana-illegal-gold-mining-galamsey-birth-defects-as-equals-intl-cmd/
• Hero image source by Wumtea / openverse, by-sa.