Correspondence from Ashanti Region

An anti-illegal mining operation in the Bosome Freho District of the Ashanti Region on Monday, 8th December, has revealed vast stretches of once-productive agricultural land completely ravaged by illegal miners, popularly known as galamseyers.

The operation, carried out by the taskforce of the National Anti-Illegal Mining Operations Secretariat (NAIMOS) at Kakra, a community within the district, found that extensive acres previously flourishing with cocoa, palm and other cash crops had been reduced to deep pits and barren wasteland.

According to GhanaWeb’s Ashanti Regional Correspondent, Nana Peprah, the magnitude of the destruction was enormous, painting a grim picture of the region’s agricultural loss.

By the time the NAIMOS team advanced on the site, the suspected Chinese miners and their Ghanaian collaborators had fled to evade arrest. However, the taskforce managed to retrieve key machinery used for the illegal operations, set ablaze makeshift structures, and confiscate a heavy-duty excavator.

Officers also removed control boards from two additional static excavators.

One officer explained that the machines themselves would be seized later when their keys were located, adding, “We are taking these control boards away since the keys to these excavators are not here. We will surely come back for the machines.”

All confiscated equipment has since been sent to the Ashanti South Regional Police Headquarters in Bekwai.

Illegal mining continues to pose a serious threat to Ghana’s food security, water resources, forest reserves and environmental sustainability. The persistent conversion of fertile farmlands into toxic pits remains a major setback to agricultural livelihoods and long-term national development.

In response, government and security agencies have intensified anti-galamsey efforts, deploying dedicated taskforces like NAIMOS, enforcing tighter regulations and amplifying public awareness.

Despite these initiatives, the lure of quick, illegal profit continues to fuel galamsey activities, underscoring the ongoing difficulty in eliminating the menace entirely.