'We will continue to spend more on soldiers to stay in forests to fight illegal miners' – Mahama

President John Dramani Mahama says Ghana is making progress in its renewed fight against illegal mining, popularly known as galamsey, particularly in forest reserves that have been severely degraded by illegal miners.

The President said the government was intensifying efforts to reclaim affected forest reserves and other environmentally sensitive areas while preventing illegal miners from returning to cleared locations.

Speaking during his Resetting Ghana Tour of the Upper East Region, President Mahama credited the National Anti-Illegal Mining Operations Secretariat (NAIMOS) with playing a significant role in the ongoing campaign.

He said the operations had resulted in the seizure of excavators and changfang machines used for illegal mining, as well as the removal of miners from several forest reserves.

“NAIMOS is working very hard. We have seized excavators, we have seized Changfang machines, and we have driven illegal miners out of this area, and we are making progress. Out of the almost 49 forest reserves that were invaded [by illegal miners], we have been able to clear as many of them as possible of illegal miners.

“What we initially did was that we handed the places to the Forestry Commission after clearing them, but the illegal miners don’t fear the forest guards, and so we now put a military detachment after we clear a forest reserve.

“That means we will have to spend more money to feed the soldiers and provide logistics for them to continue to stay in the forest, but we will not give up the fight,” he stated.

President Mahama acknowledged that maintaining military personnel in reclaimed forest reserves would require additional financial and logistical resources.

He explained that the decision was necessary because illegal miners had previously returned to areas after security operations had ended and control was handed back to forest guards.

The President said the government was therefore determined to sustain its operations and protect reclaimed areas from renewed illegal mining.

He reaffirmed his administration’s commitment to protecting Ghana’s forests, water bodies and other natural resources from the environmental damage caused by galamsey.

Illegal mining remains a major environmental challenge in Ghana, with the destruction of forest reserves, pollution of water bodies and degradation of farmlands continuing to raise concerns despite successive efforts by governments to curb the practice.

President Mahama said his administration would not abandon the fight, stressing the need for sustained enforcement and protection of areas already cleared of illegal miners.