Galamsey Crisis Deepens: Call for State of Emergency as River Turbidity Hits Record Highs

Ghana’s water bodies are on the brink of collapse as the illegal mining menace, popularly known as galamsey, intensifies under the current administration. Recent findings show that water turbidity levels have skyrocketed to 98,000, a staggering increase from 14,000 in September 2024 and nearly 200 times higher than the acceptable level of 500.

The environmental disaster is already manifesting in devastating ways. Communities are reporting strange illnesses, birth deformities, and poisoned food crops, while Ghana faces the looming threat of an EU ban on cocoa exports due to chemical contamination of farmlands.

Critics question why President John Mahama, who once urged a state of emergency during far less severe conditions under the previous government, is now reluctant to declare one. Observers suggest that political and financial interests may be at play, particularly with the Gold Board’s continued purchase of gold from galamsey operations, making the government hesitant to enforce a full ban.

According to environmental analyst Erasmus Donkor, destruction caused within just eight months of the NDC government’s return to power is five times greater than during the previous administration, which lost power in part due to the galamsey scourge.

The situation, experts warn, is unsustainable. “The damage is too much. Lives are being destroyed, water is undrinkable, and farms are poisoned,” one local leader lamented. Calls are mounting for the immediate banning of galamsey and small-scale mining until a sustainable regulatory framework is enforced.

Ghanaians are demanding urgent action: a state of emergency to save the nation’s rivers, farmlands, and citizens before the crisis spirals beyond repair.

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