The Minister for Lands and Natural Resources, Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah, has declared an uncompromising war against illegal mining, stating that he would rather lose his life than lose his integrity to the galamsey cartel.
“I would choose to fight with integrity and die rather than be corrupted in this dangerous work that will destroy all of us. That is the pledge we have made to the people of Ghana,” Buah declared during a high-stakes inspection of the Ankobra River in the Western Region.
The minister’s stark warning comes as the government ramps up “Operation Water Shield,” shifting from sporadic raids to sustained, intelligence-led security operations.
According to the Ministry, these efforts have yielded significant results, with nearly 3,000 “changfan” machines removed from water bodies and over 237 arrests made, including 144 foreign nationals.
Mr Buah noted a dramatic shift in the security landscape, revealing that armed thugs who once intimidated security forces along the Ankobra have been neutralised.
“Today, we don’t see thugs along the Ankobra who were pointing guns at security forces, because they know they will pay a price,” he said.
While hailing the progress, the Minister cautioned that the fight is far from over, vowing to pursue the wealthy financiers and sponsors bankrolling the destruction of Ghana’s water bodies.
“Our next phase is continuing to fish them out,” he said.
“We are going to continue to fight all the way, those sponsors, those financiers, until we win this fight,” he added.
