{"id":77814,"date":"2025-07-21T12:31:27","date_gmt":"2025-07-21T12:31:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/?p=77814"},"modified":"2025-07-21T12:31:27","modified_gmt":"2025-07-21T12:31:27","slug":"militarys-role-key-to-galamsey-fight-defence-minister","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/?p=77814","title":{"rendered":"Military\u2019s role key to galamsey fight \u2013 Defence Minister"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The Minister for Defence, Dr Edward Omane Boamah, has praised the Ghana Armed Forces (GAF) for their pivotal role in the ongoing battle against illegal mining, popularly known as galamsey.<\/p>\n

Speaking at the Government Accountability Series press briefing at Jubilee House, Dr Boamah acknowledged the complexity of the challenge but expressed confidence in the progress being made.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are not out of the woods yet as a nation, but there is hope because there is political will at the very top,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Ghana Armed Forces have played significant roles in the fight against illegal mining.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dr Boamah revealed that the government had conducted a comprehensive review of its anti-illegal mining strategy, leading to reforms aimed at making the campaign more structured and effective.<\/p>\n

One of the key outcomes of this review is the establishment of the National Anti-Illegal Mining Operations Secretariat, tasked with coordinating and sustaining government efforts to curb the destructive practice.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis Secretariat is a product of that review exercise,\u201d Dr Boamah explained. \u201cIt ensures we are not only reactive, but also proactive and structured in our operations.\u201d<\/p>\n

Forest Reserve Recovery<\/strong><\/p>\n

Dr Boamah commended the military for leading the recovery of several forest reserves earlier this year\u2014areas where forest guards had previously feared to venture due to the entrenched activities of illegal miners.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe recovery of several forest reserves, which our forest guards could not even venture into, was led by the Ghana Armed Forces,\u201d he noted.<\/p>\n

Navy\u2019s Role in Operation Halt II<\/strong><\/p>\n

He also highlighted the contribution of the Ghana Navy in Operation Halt II, a joint military effort targeting illegal mining activities along the River Ankobra in the Western and Western North Regions.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn Operation Halt II, the Navy supported land forces to combat illegal mining along the River Ankobra, which had suffered from years of pollution due to mining,\u201d Dr Boamah stated.<\/p>\n

Sustained Commitment to the Fight<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Defence Minister reaffirmed the government\u2019s commitment to environmental protection, stressing that the fight against galamsey remains a national security priority.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur stance is unwavering. We see this as a critical issue for sustainable development and for safeguarding our natural resources for future generations,\u201d he concluded.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\"Military\u2019sThe Minister for Defence, Dr Edward Omane Boamah, has lauded the Ghana Armed Forces (GAF) for their central role in the ongoing national campaign against illegal mining, commonly referred to as galamsey.<\/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":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-77814","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blog"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77814","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=77814"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77814\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=77814"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=77814"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=77814"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}