{"id":89812,"date":"2025-08-14T17:55:52","date_gmt":"2025-08-14T17:55:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/?p=89812"},"modified":"2025-08-14T17:55:52","modified_gmt":"2025-08-14T17:55:52","slug":"helicopter-tragedy-aftermath-mahama-has-resolved-to-ruthlessly-deal-with-galamsey-ablakwa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/?p=89812","title":{"rendered":"Helicopter tragedy aftermath: Mahama has resolved to ruthlessly deal with \u2018galamsey\u2019 \u2013 Ablakwa"},"content":{"rendered":"
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President John Dramani Mahama has committed to a \u201cruthless and relentless campaign\u201d to end illegal mining, known as \u2018galamsey\u2019, to end the menace that has resulted in significant losses.<\/p>\n

The pledge follows the tragic military helicopter crash on August 6 that killed eight people, including two cabinet ministers who were at the forefront of the anti-galamsey fight.<\/p>\n

Minister of Foreign Affairs Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa revealed the President\u2019s new resolve to JoyNews journalist Blessed Sogah today (August 14), after signing a book of condolences for the victims.<\/p>\n

The minister\u2019s remarks signal a major shift in the government\u2019s approach, which many view as a decisive response to a crisis that has spiralled into a national tragedy.<\/p>\n

\u201cI can confirm to you that you are going to see a fight that has never been witnessed in this country,\u201d Ablakwa stated. \u201cPresident Mahama is going to lead a very ruthless and relentless campaign against Galamsey. He has not minced words at all.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mr Ablakwa\u2019s comments shed light on an urgent mini-cabinet meeting held earlier in the day, where the President reportedly made his intentions clear.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe had a brief cabinet meeting earlier today, and the president was very clear. There was no ambiguity that he would be leading a war that we have never seen to deal with this existential threat once and for all,\u201d the minister added.<\/p>\n

The late Defence Minister Edward Omane Boamah and Environment Minister Ibrahim Murtala Muhammed, along with six other public servants, died while on a mission to launch a community mining scheme, a key initiative to bring some illegal miners into a regulated framework. <\/p>\n

Their deaths have galvanised the government to take a more aggressive stance.<\/p>\n

The new campaign comes amid alarming data on the severe environmental and economic toll of illegal mining. <\/p>\n

According to recent reports, over 19,000 hectares of cocoa farmland, a pillar of Ghana\u2019s economy, have been destroyed by galamsey. <\/p>\n

The use of toxic chemicals like mercury and cyanide has polluted more than 60% of Ghana\u2019s major water bodies, including the Pra and Ankobra rivers, raising fears that the nation may have to import water by 2030.<\/p>\n

Past efforts by successive governments, including Operation Vanguard and Operation Halt, have often been met with limited success. <\/p>\n

This new \u201cruthless\u201d approach is expected to be a more comprehensive and sustained effort, targeting not just the miners but the powerful sponsors behind them. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\"HelicopterPresident John Dramani Mahama has committed to a \u201cruthless and relentless campaign\u201d to end illegal mining, known as \u2018galamsey\u2019, to end the menace that has resulted in significant losses. The pledge follows the tragic military helicopter crash on August 6 that killed eight people, including two cabinet ministers who were at the forefront of the [\u2026]<\/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":[196,1900,800,2004,1883,117,10,9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-89812","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-galamsey","category-hp-news-2","category-illegal-mining","category-mining","category-national","category-news","category-politics","category-popular"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/89812","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=89812"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/89812\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=89812"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=89812"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=89812"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}