The Member of Parliament for Assin South, Rev John Ntim Fordjour, has alleged that the illegal mining menace in the country has been turned into a ‘criminal enterprise’.

Speaking on the floor of Parliament on July 30, 2025, Ntim Fordjour raised concerns, stating that the menace has escalated from being merely an environmental threat to one that is now being promoted, with some members of the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) allegedly involved.

“… Today, galamsey has evolved from being an environmental threat into a criminal enterprise with apparatchiks of the ruling government NDC scrambling for sites,” he said.

Ntim Fordjour criticised the government’s efforts in combating the menace, asserting that the government’s posture while in opposition does not seem to match its current stance.

“Mr Speaker, galamsey which our brothers on the other side went around various rivers and fetched water in bottles. Today, they are not able to go and fetch bottles because of the turbidity of those rivers, they may have to use shovel to fetch the water and put in the caps,” he asserted.

The lawmaker argued that the government isn’t showing commitment in addressing the matter and the criminality of galamsey.

Buttressing his point, he said the government could have utilised and properly equipped the security agencies with the necessary logistics to combat the menace but instead, they resorted to appointing river guards, which he believes may not be effective.

“And yet, when the Ghana Police Service and the Ghana Armed Forces were asking for adequate budgetary allocation to be able to go and fight head on, they rather chose to starve Ghana Armed Forces, Ghana Police Service, and to appoint river guards.

“River guards with no weapons, always doing all kinds of content on TikTok. That is the result of this government and that is an indication of their lack of commitment in addressing this matter,” he said.

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