Environmental scientist Dr. Anyimah-Ackah has debunked claims by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) that Ghana\u2019s polluted rivers can be \u201cde-chemicalised,\u201d describing the statement as scientifically inaccurate and misleading.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Speaking on Joy FM\u2019s Newsfile during a heated panel discussion on illegal mining (galamsey) and President Mahama\u2019s recent engagement with Civil Society Organisations (CSOs), Dr. Anyimah-Ackah criticised the EPA leadership for, in his words, \u201cnot telling the government the scientific truth\u201d about the extent of environmental damage caused by galamsey.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u26a0\ufe0f \u201cYou Can Detoxify, But Not De-Chemicalise\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n According to Dr. Anyimah-Ackah, while some water bodies can be detoxified or rehabilitated over long periods, it is impossible to \u2018de-chemicalise\u2019 water systems that have been heavily contaminated with mercury, cyanide, and other mining residues.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThere is no such thing as de-chemicalising water. You can treat and detoxify to reduce contamination, but you cannot reverse chemical integration in the river ecosystem. Once these substances bind with sediments and aquatic life, the damage is long-term,\u201d he explained.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He noted that Ghana\u2019s major rivers \u2014 including Pra, Offin, Ankobra, and Birim \u2014 are already at critical contamination levels, warning that any official suggesting they can simply be \u201cde-chemicalised\u201d is offering false hope to the public.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe are not talking about soap in water; we\u2019re dealing with heavy metals and hydrocarbons. These are persistent pollutants. You cannot de-chemicalise mercury or cyanide out of a river \u2014 it takes decades of remediation and reforestation,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \ud83e\udde9 Response to EPA\u2019s Statement<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Dr. Anyimah-Ackah\u2019s comments followed remarks from an EPA official earlier this week who claimed the agency had initiated a plan to \u2018de-chemicalise Ghana\u2019s rivers\u2019 as part of a post-galamsey rehabilitation program.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The statement, widely circulated after President Mahama\u2019s meeting with CSOs, was intended to assure the public that efforts were underway to restore water bodies affected by illegal mining. However, scientists and policy analysts have since raised doubts about its feasibility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhat the EPA should be doing is strengthening monitoring, enforcing environmental laws, and coordinating with local assemblies \u2014 not making scientifically impossible promises,\u201d Dr. Anyimah-Ackah cautioned.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \ud83c\udf0d Scientific Reality of Water Contamination<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Environmental experts confirm that chemical contamination in water bodies cannot be completely reversed once toxic metals bind to sediments. The only practical interventions are containment, natural filtration through wetlands, and long-term ecological restoration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Dr. Anyimah-Ackah, who has conducted extensive research on Ghana\u2019s freshwater ecosystems, emphasised that the country must invest in preventive measures rather than unrealistic cleanup operations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cOnce mercury or cyanide enters the water chain, it bio-accumulates \u2014 meaning fish, plants, and even humans absorb it. Detoxification is possible through natural restoration, but de-chemicalisation is not a real scientific process,\u201d he said firmly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \ud83d\udd0d Broader Context: Galamsey and Government Accountability<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The discussion comes amid public frustration over the government\u2019s perceived lack of urgency in addressing the galamsey crisis. Critics say the administration\u2019s focus has shifted from environmental protection to gold mobilisation, echoing similar sentiments expressed by IMANI Africa\u2019s Kofi Bentil earlier this week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Many CSOs have urged the President to declare a national environmental emergency, arguing that rhetoric without enforcement will not save Ghana\u2019s collapsing river systems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Nsemgh.com Analysis:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Dr. Anyimah-Ackah\u2019s comments have reignited debate over the government\u2019s credibility in handling the galamsey menace. His scientific rebuttal challenges official narratives and underscores the grim reality \u2014 that some of Ghana\u2019s once-vibrant rivers may never fully recover from chemical pollution unless drastic, science-based interventions begin immediately.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Environmental scientist Dr. Anyimah-Ackah has debunked claims by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) that Ghana\u2019s polluted rivers can be \u201cde-chemicalised,\u201d describing the statement as scientifically inaccurate and misleading. Speaking on Joy FM\u2019s Newsfile during a heated panel discussion on illegal mining (galamsey) and President Mahama\u2019s recent engagement with Civil Society Organisations (CSOs), Dr. Anyimah-Ackah criticised […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":46667,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_post_source_name":"","_post_source_url":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[43,1],"tags":[1648,1221,7893,6497,8440,11399,12112,11954,12607,10427,6987,5556,192,5918,2264,10321,11577,4894,7667,11664,12329,9974,130,9833,12113,7795,67,1137,3805,12896,9110,2381,8943,9162,146,8869,12177,13355,594],"class_list":["post-46666","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-local-news","category-news","tag-africa","tag-cancer","tag-chain","tag-contamination","tag-crisis","tag-debate","tag-dr-anyomah-ackah","tag-engagement","tag-environmental-emergency","tag-epa","tag-fish","tag-galamsey","tag-ghana","tag-gold","tag-government","tag-illegal","tag-illegal-mining","tag-imani","tag-imani-africa","tag-kofi-bentil","tag-laws","tag-leadership","tag-mahama","tag-meeting","tag-menace","tag-mining","tag-nsemgh","tag-nsemgh-com","tag-president","tag-president-mahama","tag-river","tag-science","tag-scientist","tag-scientists","tag-truth","tag-water","tag-water-bodies","tag-wetlands","tag-who"],"blocksy_meta":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nsemgh.com\/api-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46666","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nsemgh.com\/api-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nsemgh.com\/api-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nsemgh.com\/api-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nsemgh.com\/api-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=46666"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.nsemgh.com\/api-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46666\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":46668,"href":"https:\/\/www.nsemgh.com\/api-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46666\/revisions\/46668"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nsemgh.com\/api-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/46667"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nsemgh.com\/api-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=46666"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nsemgh.com\/api-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=46666"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nsemgh.com\/api-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=46666"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}