Security Consultant, Professor Kwesi Aning has urged government to avoid political comparisons in its effort to fight galamsey.
Prof. Aning noted that the galamsey menace has outgrown a point where political parties would draw parallel as to which party is making strides in the fight against the menace.
Speaking in an interview on TV3 New Day’s Big Issue, Tuesday, April 22, 2025, he called for a collective national approach to deal with the menace considering the amount of destruction and impact of galamsey activities in the country.
Prof. Aning said this is the time for government to be thinking through and taking drastic initiatives that are necessary to the galamsey fight.
“What we are looking at is something that goes beyond a 4- or 8-year cycle of political leadership. We need a national leadership or position of the best and brightest minds in this country to pull this country back from the brink.
“The comparison between one regime and the other is not going to help us. We have crossed that bridge, behind is no more a bridge, ahead of us is a total destruction so we don’t have the time to squabble.
“This is war and no more politics and we need to take the extraordinary measures to fight it,” he stated.
The Minister for Lands and Natural Resources, Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah, has exposed what he described as a well-organized criminal syndicate operating under the name of Akonta Mining Company Ltd.
Though the company was legally granted a lease to mine off-reserve, the Minister revealed that Akonta Mining had illegally invaded protected forest reserves in the Samreboi enclave of the Western North Region — selling access to the Aboi Forest Reserve for GHC 300,000 per concession, collecting 250 grams of gold weekly in royalties, and protecting illegal miners who devastated the Tano River and forest compartments with impunity.
At a press briefing in Accra on April 21, the Minister disclosed damning details of collusion involving forestry officers and security personnel who were bribed to shield the syndicate.
He announced that a 12-hour intelligence-led raid on Good Friday led to the arrest of 51 people, including eight Chinese nationals, the seizure of 30 excavators, weapons, vehicles, and mining equipment.
Consequently, the Minister has revoked Akonta’s lease, ordered the interdiction of implicated forestry officials, and triggered investigations by the security agencies and the Attorney-General’s office
