Prof. Benedicta Yayra Fosu-Mensah, a communications team member of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), has called for a tougher approach to illegal mining in Ghana, describing the practice as a form of terrorism that endangers public health and the environment.
Speaking on GHToday with Lily Mohammed on Wednesday, 21 January 2026, Prof. Fosu-Mensah argued that galamsey operators are systematically threatening communities by polluting rivers and farmland, a threat she says cannot be ignored.
“Treat illegal mining as a terrorist attack on the country, as an invasion,” she said.
“These individuals are gradually killing citizens of the country, and I don’t think that as Ghanaians we would sit for foreigners to come and take our health away by polluting our water and our lands.”
While acknowledging government efforts to strengthen the security apparatus, Prof. Fosu-Mensah stressed that more must be done to tackle the organised networks behind the operations.
She called for investigations into the financiers and backers of illegal mining, urging that they be held accountable.
“It’s unfortunate this happened, though the government has retooled the security service, but as I said this is an organised crime,” she said.
“The necessary authorities need to go deeper than we are doing now. Fish out the financiers of this, treat them as terrorists who are terrorising our lives. They are destroying us, and we need to treat it with the seriousness it deserves.”
Source: Starrfm.com.gh/Barbara Yeboah
