Ndiho Media,LLC.

By Ndiho Media
Ghana mourns after eight people — amongst them the Defence Minister and the Environment Minister — died after a military Z9 chopper crashed in the Ashanti Region last week. The helicopter, which had been bound from Accra to Obuasi, had gone missing from radar and had crashed in remote areas.
The ministers were headed to Obuasi, today’s epicenter of illicit small-scale gold mining, or galamsey — an activity losing Ghana billions in forgone revenue as it ravages farmland, forests, and rivers.
Ghana’s gold industry is thriving, generating more than $5.1 billion during the first few months of 2025, with artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) generating around $4 billion, as reported by the Ghana Gold Board. However, illegal galamsey mining is destroying cocoa plantations, poisoning rivers with mercury, and denuding forest reserves. Shortly before he was sworn in for the second term, Ndiho Media spoke with Ghanaian President John Dramani Mahama about illegal mining commonly known as galamsey.
“The first is to stop mining in forest reserves — where the rivers get their catchment area,” said Mahama. “Second is to clean up the rivers and stop people pouring effluent into them. We will engage the Minerals Commission and Environmental Protection Agency to ensure they implement the law.”
Mahama also stressed that small-scale mining itself is not the enemy.
“Small-scale mining is legal, and there are ways of doing it without destroying the environment. It’s done in Canada, Australia, and the United States. The technology exists — so why don’t we bring that technology here and train our people to do it in a way that’s safe for the environment?” he further said.