‘We had military, national security with us but we had to run for our lives’ — EPA Boss recounts violent galamsey encounter near Obuasi

The Chief Executive Officer of the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA), Professor Nana Ama Klutse, has recounted a violent confrontation between illegal miners and an EPA-led task force that ended in a serious road crash, injuring several people, including a Channel One TV journalist.

Speaking on TV3 on Thursday, November 6, 2025, Prof. Klutse explained that the incident occurred during a three-week nationwide anti-galamsey operation launched to disrupt the networks that supply and sustain illegal mining activities in Ghana’s rivers and water bodies.

“This operation is part of a three-week plan by the EPA to ensure that the services and supplies that make mining in our rivers possible — which is illegal — are also dismantled. We realised that it’s not enough to tell people to stop mining in the rivers; we must also go after those who supply and support them,” she said.

According to Prof. Klutse, the joint team, made up of EPA officials, soldiers, and national security operatives, was inspecting illegal mining activities at Dadwene, near Obuasi, when armed miners attacked them. The group was forced to retreat after coming under intense threat.

“While near Obuasi, we saw galamsey happening in the open and decided to take a closer look. The miners ran off as we approached, but we found three excavators working directly in the river, blocking and diverting its flow. It was a terrible sight,” she narrated.

As the team withdrew, they noticed men dressed in black uniforms marked ‘CID’ advancing toward them. Prof. Klutse said the situation quickly escalated, but the officers could not return fire.

“We had military and national security personnel with us, but we couldn’t engage them. We had to run for our lives,” she recounted.

While retreating through Afari, the convoy received intelligence from Accra to divert their route due to new security threats. During the diversion, one of the vehicles collided head-on with a truck suspected to be transporting pipes used in illegal mining.

“Just before reaching Kumasi, we had the head-on collision,” she said.

Several members of the team sustained injuries. A Joy TV cameraman broke his thigh, while an Adom TV correspondent suffered a head injury.

Prof. Klutse expressed deep gratitude that there were no fatalities and commended the medical team attending to the injured.

“We thank God that everyone survived. It’s unfortunate that some of us were hurt, but we’ve asked the doctors and nurses to pay special attention to them because they were injured while serving the nation,” she said.