{"id":104377,"date":"2025-11-27T19:40:30","date_gmt":"2025-11-27T19:40:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/?p=104377"},"modified":"2025-11-27T19:40:30","modified_gmt":"2025-11-27T19:40:30","slug":"we-cant-fight-galamsey-while-excavators-disappear-and-reappear-like-ghosts-erastus-asare-donkor","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/?p=104377","title":{"rendered":"We can\u2019t fight galamsey while \u2018excavators disappear and reappear like ghosts\u2019 \u2013 Erastus Asare Donkor"},"content":{"rendered":"
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JoyNews investigative journalist Erastus Asare Donkor has questioned the government\u2019s commitment to ending illegal mining, locally known as galamsey, arguing that the fight cannot succeed as long as excavators used in galamsey operations continue to \u201cdisappear and reappear like ghosts.\u201d<\/p>\n

Delivering the keynote address at the Kronti ne Akwamu <\/em>Lecture on Thursday, November 27, under the theme \u201cGalamsey: A Country\u2019s Search for a Solution in Plain Sight,<\/strong>\u201d<\/em> Mr Donkor criticised the weak enforcement system that allows heavy equipment to be moved in and out of mining zones without accountability.<\/p>\n

He stressed the urgent need for the Minerals Commission to operationalise the long-delayed excavator tracking system, insisting that every excavator in the country must be registered and monitored in real time.<\/p>\n

According to him, any unregistered machine found within a mining area should be seized without hesitation. <\/p>\n

\u201cThis is not a suggestion. It is common sense,\u201d he said, adding that no government can claim to be serious about fighting galamsey while refusing to adopt basic tracking measures.<\/p>\n

Mr Donkor also called for water bodies and major biodiversity zones to be declared national security areas where mining is strictly prohibited. <\/p>\n

However, he warned that such measures would require robust enforcement, something he said is currently lacking.<\/p>\n

He pointed out that the National Anti-Illegal Mining Taskforce (NAIMOS) remains under-resourced, without a dedicated budget, adequate logistics, or political protection. <\/p>\n

These gaps, he argued, undermine the taskforce\u2019s ability to safeguard rivers and forest reserves.<\/p>\n

\u201cHow do we expect them to protect rivers when we don\u2019t protect them?\u201d Mr Donkor asked, calling for stronger collaboration with local police and the decentralisation of NAIMOS to enforce security zones effectively.<\/p>\n

To ensure transparency and accountability, he recommended that NAIMOS establish internal watchdog structures to prevent corruption and institutional weakness.<\/p>\n

Mr Donkor further proposed the creation of a credible intelligence network made up of journalists, community leaders, forestry officers, and civic groups who can report directly to the President with unfiltered information from the ground.<\/p>\n

He also urged major reforms within the Forestry Commission, which he accused of enabling the plunder of forest reserves under the guise of reclamation. <\/p>\n

To fix this, he suggested upgrading the Commission to a paramilitary-level institution capable of enforcing demarcations and protecting Ghana\u2019s forest frontiers.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\"WeJoyNews investigative journalist Erastus Asare Donkor has questioned the government\u2019s commitment to ending illegal mining, locally known as galamsey, arguing that the fight cannot succeed as long as excavators used in galamsey operations continue to \u201cdisappear and reappear like ghosts.\u201d<\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":{"facebook_2277560469115098_106292521332774":"","twitter_aToxNzczMzI3Njk4OTg4ODUxMjAxOw==_1773327698988851200":""},"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4282,4370,196,1969,1883,10,9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-104377","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-erastus-asare-donkor","category-excavators","category-galamsey","category-hp-news-3","category-national","category-politics","category-popular"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/104377","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=104377"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/104377\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=104377"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=104377"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=104377"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}