Over 3,000 excavators remain unclaimed at Tema Port as govt tightens mining equipment tracking
More than 3,000 excavators registered under Ghana's equipment tracking programme remain unclaimed at the Tema Port following the introduction of a geo-fencing system aimed at preventing the use of mining equipment outside licensed concessions, the Minister for Lands and Natural Resources, Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah, has disclosed.
Speaking at a press conference in Accra on Wednesday, July 15, 2026, Mr Buah said the government had intensified efforts to regulate the use of earth-moving equipment as part of its campaign against illegal mining.
According to him, nearly 2,000 excavators currently operating at mining sites across the country are being monitored around the clock through the geo-fencing technology, which restricts their operations to approved mining concessions.
"We still have over 3,000 excavators waiting for the owners to pick," the minister stated.
He explained that the equipment tracking initiative began in July 2025, when about 1,200 excavators were impounded at the Tema Port pending verification and registration.
Mr Buah said by September 2025, 1,015 excavators had been registered nationwide, with tracking devices installed on 647 of them. By January 2026, registrations had risen to 1,800, while 1,033 excavators had been fitted with tracking devices.
Providing the latest update, he said 4,300 earth-moving and mining equipment units have now been registered at the Tema Port, with tracking devices installed on 1,864 of them.
The minister noted that the tracking system is being implemented under the Minerals and Mining (Mineral Operations, Tracking of Earth-Moving and Mining Equipment) Regulations, 2020 (L.I. 2404), which require all mining-related earth-moving equipment to be registered and operated only within licensed mining concessions.
He said the programme is being executed through a collaboration involving the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources, the Ministry of Transport, the Ghana Revenue Authority, the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority and the Minerals Commission.
Mr Buah, however, did not indicate why the more than 3,000 excavators remain unclaimed at the Tema Port or what measures the government intends to take if their owners fail to retrieve them.
As part of the government's broader anti-illegal mining strategy, the minister also disclosed that 52 training programmes on mercury pollution control were conducted between January and June 2026.
He further announced that 452 additional Blue Water Guards had recently been deployed, increasing the total number of personnel under the initiative to 2,069, while the National Anti-Illegal Mining Operations Secretariat continues enforcement activities across the country.