Media Relations Officer at the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources, Paa Kwesi Schandorf, has rated the performance of the current National Democratic Congress (NDC)-led administration in the fight against illegal mining, popularly known as galamsey, at “way above 80 percent.”
Speaking on GHOne TV on Monday, May 5, 2026, Mr. Schandorf said his assessment was based on the scale of environmental degradation inherited by the current government.
“If we are going to assess the fight against illegal mining… it should be done against the… devastating conditions that were left behind as the legacy that we inherited,” he stated.
According to him, Ghana has 288 forest reserves, out of which 44 were affected by illegal mining activities between 2017 and 2024. He noted that about nine of these reserves had been declared “no-go areas” at the time, indicating that even security personnel could not access them.
He further disclosed that while earlier records indicated about 5,500 hectares of land had been destroyed by illegal mining, updated figures showed the damage had risen to approximately 10,000 hectares by 2024.
“That is what we came to inherit… 10,000 hectares of land… completely destroyed,” he said.
Mr. Schandorf also highlighted reforms in the regulation of excavators, stating that under the previous system, there was little to no monitoring of heavy-duty equipment entering the country.
“No excavator… was subjected to any form of registration scrutiny… it was a free-for-all affair,” he said, adding that the current administration has introduced mechanisms to track the importation and deployment of excavators nationwide.
On enforcement, he revealed that over 400 suspected illegal miners have been arrested within the last nine months. However, he acknowledged concerns about delays in prosecution, attributing them to challenges within the justice delivery system.
“The justice delivery system… is a bit cumbersome… there are a backlog of cases,” he noted.
To address this, he said government is taking steps to establish special tribunals dedicated to illegal mining offences to expedite prosecutions.
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“The cabinet has approved that proposition… when it does, we’ll begin the prosecution effectively,” he added.
Galamsey continues to pose significant environmental and economic challenges in Ghana, with successive governments implementing measures to curb its impact.
Source: Starrfm.com.gh
