In the early hours of Wednesday, 6th August 2025, Ghana mourned the loss of eight brave souls in a military helicopter crash. Among the deceased were high-ranking officials, including the Minister for Defence, Dr. Edward Kofi Omane Boamah, and the Minister for Environment, Science, Technology & Innovation, Alhaji Dr. Ibrahim Murtala Muhammed. Their mission was tied to the ongoing battle against illegal mining, a scourge that has plagued the nation for years. Their deaths serve as a stark reminder of the human cost of this fight and the urgent need for decisive action.
The crash joins a grim list of tragedies linked to the war against illegal mining, or ‘galamsey.’ In May 2017, Major Maxwell Adam Mahama was lynched in Denkyira Obuasi while confronting galamsey operators. These men did not die in vain. They represent the courage, dedication, and ultimate sacrifice needed to defend Ghana’s lands, rivers, and dignity. Their deaths demand a reckoning and a renewed commitment to eradicating illegal mining.
Galamsey has wreaked havoc on Ghana’s environment. Rivers like the Ankobra, Pra, Birim, and Offin are now little more than flowing sludge. Forests have been stripped bare, and once-fertile farmland has been turned into toxic pits. The gold and green of Ghana’s national flag, symbolizing wealth and lush fertility, are being erased before the nation’s eyes.
The problem of galamsey is not merely one of illegal miners in the bush. It is a business with boardroom sponsors in Accra, Kumasi, and even abroad. The involvement of politicians in this trade is no longer a rumor; it is a national disgrace. Under President John Mahama’s previous administration, illegal miners were courted for votes. Promises were made to “train them to mine responsibly,” which in reality meant there would be no ban; only a rebranding of the same destruction.
The Akufo-Addo administration came in with strong words. The President boldly declared he was putting his “presidency on the line” to stop galamsey. Yet, seven years later, the situation has worsened. Operation Vanguard and the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Illegal Mining collapsed in disgrace, with revelations that seized excavators mysteriously vanished, allegedly sold or returned to the very same illegal miners.
Prof. Kwabena Frimpong-Boateng, then Minister for Environment, was vilified for daring to name the powerful, including politicians from the NPP and NDC, who were neck-deep in galamsey. Instead of backing him, the political establishment turned on him. His leaked report mentioned the involvement of party financiers, MPs, and even government appointees. The silence that followed was deafening.
Both the NPP and the NDC have failed Ghana on galamsey. They have treated it as a political bargaining chip instead of an existential crisis. Chiefs, DCEs, and MMDCEs are complicit. The Chinese operators who dig up Ghana’s gold and leave behind poisoned land are not ghosts; they have Ghanaian partners with deep pockets and deeper influence.
In the wake of this tragedy, Ghana must declare galamsey a national security emergency. A two-year total ban on all small-scale mining, with zero exceptions, must be enforced. A truly independent anti-galamsey task force, reporting directly to Parliament and insulated from political interference, must be formed. High-profile enablers, regardless of party affiliation, must be prosecuted, starting with names already in Frimpong-Boateng’s report. All illegal mining equipment must be permanently seized and destroyed—no return, no sale, no political cover.
Foreign equipment imports must be cut off by tightening customs inspections and licensing. Land reclamation and river dredging must be funded by confiscating the assets of convicted galamsey financiers. Ghana can no longer be deceived by grand promises and photo-op river cleanups. The nation cannot allow any government, red, blue, or otherwise, to trade its forests and rivers for campaign donations.
Major Mahama, the eight who perished last week, and countless other patriots did not die so Ghana could keep recycling political excuses. They died for a Ghana worth fighting for, one where the land is protected, not auctioned to the highest bidder. If Ghana does not end galamsey now, it will not just lose its rivers and forests; it will lose its soul as a nation. The choice is ours, and history will not forgive us for our cowardice. Enough is enough!
In the words of Fuseini Abdulai Braimah, a true Muslim, very frank and so intelligent. A refined gentleman. Innaa Lillaahi Wa In