President John Dramani Mahama has appealed to traditional authorities to support the government’s fight against illegal mining, warning that resistance to enforcement operations in some communities has resulted in violent confrontations and deaths.
He made the appeal during a courtesy call by the Western Regional House of Chiefs at the Jubilee House on Tuesday, Octpober 13, 2026.
Mahama stressed the importance of collaboration between chiefs and security personnel in protecting Ghana’s water bodies and forest reserves.
The President said traditional leaders were crucial to the campaign because of their influence in their respective communities, urging them to help prevent residents from obstructing anti-galamsey operations.
“We need the help of our chiefs in the fights against Galamsey because you live in the community with the people and sometimes NAIMOS is doing a good job, but sometimes we go into some communities and the youth and the traditional authorities and everybody, you know, fights back at NAIMOS,” he said.
Mahama expressed concern about incidents in which security personnel had discharged firearms during confrontations, resulting in fatalities.
“And there are a few incidents where the soldiers have had to, you know, discharge firearms, resulted in a few deaths. We want to avoid that and so if we can get the collaboration of our chiefs to help in the fight against illegal mining, especially in our forest reserves and in our water bodies,” he added.
As part of the government’s efforts to strengthen enforcement, President Mahama announced that an additional GH¢400 million had been provided in the 2027 Budget to recruit more Blue Water Guards to patrol water bodies.
He said the guards would continue to target ‘changfan’ machines used in illegal mining, adding that several machines had already been destroyed.
The President, however, noted that pollution from tributaries remained a challenge, as mud and silt continued to flow into river channels even after mining equipment had been removed.
His appeal places traditional authorities at the centre of efforts to secure community cooperation and reduce confrontations as the government intensifies its campaign against galamsey.
