The Convenor of the Coalition Against Illegal Mining, Dr. Kenneth Ashigbey, has urged government to move beyond designating forests and water bodies as security zones and immediately declare a state of emergency to confront Ghana’s escalating galamsey crisis.
Dr. Ashigbey welcomed the Lands and Natural Resources Minister, Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah’s announcement that all rivers and forests would soon be declared security zones, warning that illegal miners would operate there “at their own risk.”
However, he argued that the severity of the environmental destruction requires far stronger measures.
In an interview on Joy FM’s Newsnight on Wednesday, September 24, he stressed that water turbidity levels in some areas had reached over 94,000 NTU, a development he described as catastrophic and more than enough to justify a formal state of emergency.
“The president himself has already alluded to the fact that this environmental crime amounts to an international emergency. I don’t know what else would be needed before a state of emergency is declared,” he added.
Read also: Rivers, forests to become security zones – Lands Minister hints in intensified galamsey fight
“We want to see what the details of the Minister of Lands has announced but we still think that it is not enough. With the crisis that is confronting us, we need some level of urgency that currently is not coming in.”
According to him, while the government’s new measures are a step forward, they fall short of the decisive action required to protect Ghana’s rivers, forests, and communities from the devastating effects of illegal mining.
Dr. Ashigbey insisted that only a state of emergency could marshal the resources, political will, and enforcement capacity needed to restore Ghana’s water bodies and safeguard future generations.