Anti-Galamsey Crusader Slams Deportation Policy: "Prosecute, Don't Just Deport Foreign Miners"

Ghana's fight against illegal mining is failing because authorities are simply sending foreign offenders home instead of prosecuting them—allowing the same criminals to return and resume destroying the country's rivers and forests, a leading anti-galamsey activist has charged.

Ing. Kenneth Ashigbey, convenor of the Media Coalition Against Galamsey, delivered a scathing assessment of government policy Monday, questioning why the Interior Minister's deportation strategy continues when it has proven "retrogressive" and ineffective at stopping the environmental devastation ravaging Ghana's water bodies and forest reserves.

Speaking on Joy News' On the Pulse on December 29, Ashigbey challenged authorities to explain what happened to the much-publicized deportation policy and why confiscated excavators still sit idle at mining sites instead of being properly disposed of after successful prosecutions.

Ashigbey's criticism came as two major anti-galamsey operations netted dozens of arrests Monday, including 33 Chinese nationals caught allegedly engaged in illegal mining activities across two regions.

The National Anti-Illegal Mining Operations Secretariat (NAIMOS) raided sites in the Akyem Oda area within Birim Central Municipality, arresting five Chinese nationals allegedly conducting unauthorized mining and washing operations directly into the Birim River—one of Ghana's most polluted water bodies due to illegal mining activities.

Meanwhile, the Forestry Commission's Rapid Response team apprehended 28 Chinese nationals and three Ghanaians attempting to mine illegally in the Apamprama Forest Reserve in the Ashanti Region. The miners had reportedly been brought in by an individual named Alhassan and had established camps under the false pretext of conducting reclamation exercises—a common tactic where illegal miners claim they're rehabilitating degraded land while actually extracting minerals.

"Arrests Without Prosecutions Are Meaningless"

While Ashigbey acknowledged that the arrests represent important enforcement actions, he emphasized that without proper prosecution, they amount to little more than temporary inconveniences for well-organized criminal networks.

"The Interior Minister needs to tell us about that policy he brought—the one deporting foreigners engaged in galamsey. What has happened to that? Is he still embarking on it? Because it is all retrogressive. It is not helping the fight," Ashigbey declared.

The activist pointed to a troubling indicator of enforcement failure: the continued presence of confiscated excavators at illegal mining sites across the country.

"The fact that several excavators are still sitting where they are shows that prosecutions are not taking place. That is at the heart of the failure so far in our fight against galamsey," he said.

Under proper legal procedures, successfully prosecuted illegal miners should have their equipment forfeited to the state and either auctioned for legitimate purposes or destroyed to prevent re-use in illegal operations. The fact that excavators remain at sites suggests cases aren't moving through the justice system.

Ashigbey's critique highlights a fundamental problem with deportation as the primary response to foreign involvement in illegal mining: nothing is preventing deported individuals from simply returning to Ghana and resuming their activities.

Ghana's borders remain porous, and without criminal convictions and international information-sharing about deportees, the same foreign nationals can re-enter the country—sometimes within weeks—and reconnect with their illegal mining networks.

Deportation also fails to address the Ghanaian citizens who facilitate foreign involvement in galamsey. Ghanaian law prohibits foreigners from engaging in small-scale mining, meaning every foreign illegal miner operates with local collaboration—sponsors who provide access to mining sites, local partners who navigate regulatory systems, and community members who offer protection or turn a blind eye.

By simply deporting foreigners without prosecuting their Ghanaian collaborators, authorities leave the criminal infrastructure intact, ready to receive the next batch of foreign miners.

Illegal mining has devastated Ghana's environment, particularly water bodies that millions depend on for drinking water, agriculture, and livelihoods. Rivers like the Birim, Pra, Ankobra, and Offin have turned chocolate-brown from sediment and mercury contamination.

The Ghana Water Company Limited has repeatedly warned that treating polluted water for public consumption is becoming prohibitively expensive and may soon be technically impossible for some severely contaminated sources.

Forest reserves—supposed sanctuaries for biodiversity and watershed protection—have been invaded by illegal miners who clear vegetation, dig massive pits, and leave behind toxic, barren landscapes that will take generations to recover, if they ever do.

The economic costs extend beyond environmental damage. Ghana's cocoa industry, a major foreign exchange earner, suffers when illegal mining destroys farmland. Tourism potential diminishes when rivers and forests are degraded. Public health expenses mount as communities consume contaminated water.

The Media Coalition Against Galamsey is urging a multi-pronged approach that goes beyond arrests to include robust prosecution, asset forfeiture, and addressing the systemic corruption that allows illegal mining to flourish.

Ashigbey specifically called on the Interior Minister, Attorney General, and Ghana Police Service to take decisive steps to ensure that arrests translate into legal convictions and lasting deterrence.

This means:

• Prosecutors must prioritize galamsey cases instead of allowing them to languish in court backlogs

• Police must conduct thorough investigations that produce court-ready evidence

• Judges must impose meaningful sentences that deter future offenses

• Asset forfeiture procedures must be streamlined so that confiscated equipment is quickly and permanently removed from illegal miners' reach

• International cooperation must be strengthened to prevent deported offenders from re-entering Ghana

  
  

The 33 individuals arrested Monday will presumably face charges related to illegal mining, environmental destruction, and operating without proper permits. Whether these cases result in convictions and meaningful penalties will test the government's commitment to moving beyond performative arrests toward substantive justice.

For Ghana's anti-galamsey movement, the frustration centers on a familiar pattern: dramatic raids generate headlines, authorities tout arrest statistics, and then cases disappear into the justice system's black hole while illegal mining continues barely interrupted.

The presence of Chinese nationals in nearly all recent major galamsey busts underscores the transnational nature of illegal mining networks—sophisticated operations that require equally sophisticated law enforcement responses, not just deportations that treat symptoms rather than causes.

As Ghana's water crisis intensifies and forest reserves continue shrinking, the stakes couldn't be higher. The question isn't whether authorities can arrest illegal miners—Monday's operations prove they can. The question is whether Ghana's justice system has the capacity, resources, and political will to prosecute offenders successfully and dismantle the criminal networks profiting from environmental destruction.

Until excavators stop sitting idle at mining sites and start being auctioned or destroyed after successful prosecutions, Ashigbey's critique will remain valid: Ghana is arresting its way around the problem rather than prosecuting its way through it.

And until that changes, the country's rivers will continue running brown, forests will keep disappearing, and the same foreign miners deported today will return tomorrow to resume plundering Ghana's natural heritage.