A legal practitioner and member of the Convention People’s Party (CPP), Nana Kwame Jantuah, has called for security operatives to shoot to maim illegal miners if human rights activists oppose shoot to kill.
Jantuah says a drastic approach like shooting to maim illegal miners remains the only means to stop illegal mining, popularly known as galamsey.
He call comes on the back of the excessive contamination of rivers bodies in the country, including the River Birim, which provides freshwater for residents of Akyem Apapam and its environs.
Commenting on a disturbing video taken by host of TV3’s NewDay host, Joseph Ackah-Blay, on Friday, September 25, 2026, Mr. Jantuah, whose earlier calls for a “shoot to kill” approach to end galamsey, has been objected by human rights activists, suggested a “shoot to maim” as the remaining alternative that could solve the canker.
“I’m continuously saying because Ghanaians we love our lives, if we are not going to shoot to kill, shoot to maim. That’s the only thing that would put this ear, make it better,” he stated.
According to him, the fear of being maimed would deter people from engaging in galamsey, questioning why government cannot place a two to three-year ban on small-scale mining to properly restructure the sector.
“They [NPP] tried but they gave up. Why aren’t we banning small-scale mining for 2 to 3 years to put things right? No small-scale mining licenses, we ban it, restructure it properly. When Nana Addo tried, wasn’t the water turbidity coming back? But because of politics what did he do? He stopped. Let’s ban it two years, get everything in place. At least, water bodies might come back,” he argued.
Aside from the disturbing videos of illegal mining along the highways in the area, officials of the Ghana Water Company say turbidity levels in the Birim have reached up to 75,000 NTU, pushing further any chance of restarting the Kyebi water treatment plant.
In his words, Ackah-Blay, who visited the areas said some illegal miners have resorted to mounting roofing sheets by the roadside to shield their activities from motorists, while mining continues openly despite reports to the police and national security operatives, including behind a police station.
