The Minister for Foreign Affairs, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, has revealed President John Dramani Mahama’s resolve to go all out in rooting out illegal mining, popularly known as galamsey.

Speaking to journalists on Thursday, August 14, 2025, the minister said the president made his intent clear during a cabinet meeting.

“I can confirm to you that you are going to see a fight that has never been witnessed in this country. President Mahama is going to lead a very ruthless and relentless campaign against galamsey. He has not minced words at all; we had a brief cabinet meeting earlier today, and the president was very clear. There was no ambiguity that he will lead a war that we have never seen to deal with this canker, this existential threat, once and for all,” he told the press.

Public figures who have called for an end to galamsey following horrific helicopter crash

The revelation by the Minister for Foreign Affairs comes on the back of heightened public calls on the government to step up its fight against illegal mining following the August 6, 2025, helicopter crash that claimed the lives of eight individuals, including two cabinet ministers.

On August 6, 2025, a Ghana Air Force Harbin Z-9 military helicopter crashed into a forested mountainside in the Adansi Akrofuom District, Ashanti Region, killing all eight people on board. The helicopter was en route from Kotoka International Airport in Accra to Obuasi for an event focused on combating illegal mining.

Helicopter crash should spur renewed fight against galamsey – Prof Agyeman-Duah

The deceased include Dr Edward Kofi Omane Boamah, Minister of Defence; Alhaji Dr. Ibrahim Murtala Mohammed, Minister for Environment, Science and Technology; Alhaji Muniru Mohammed, Acting Deputy National Security Coordinator; Dr Samuel Sarpong, 1st Vice Chairman of the National Democratic Congress (NDC); Samuel Aboagye, Deputy Director-General of NADMO; and three crew members, Squadron Leader Peter Bafemi Anala, Flying Officer Mane-Twum Ampadu, and Sergeant Ernest Addo Mensah.

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Meanwhile, watch the trailer to GhanaWeb’s yet-to-air documentary on teenage girls and how fish is stealing their futures below: