The National Security Secretariat in the Ashanti Region has announced a one-month ban on all illegal mining activities in the Juaben Municipality.
The action resulted from an alarming observation made during a team's inspection of mining sites.
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The Deputy Ashanti Regional Security Coordinator, Alhaji Nji Abdallah Umar, explained that the extent of the environmental degradation is very frightening, which demands immediate action.
He further said that the initiative is led by the regional minister through the regional coordinating council and the Regional Security Council, and that it takes effect immediately and will remain in effect until next month.
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Speaking in a post shared on X on July 16, 2026, he said, “I think we started this whole exercise with you and what we witnessed today, all we are witnessing, you can bear with me, that is very, very frightening, very, very frightening. So, no wonder the Regional Minister, who's leading the Regional Coordinating Council or the Regional Security Council, said that from today, Wednesday, until the following month, there will be no mining in the Juaben municipality.
Abdallah Umar noted that the action is part of efforts to reclaim abandoned pits and restore degraded lands.
“What we would want to see is reclaiming pits or lost or degraded lands,” he said.
“You know, as we are also on the field, we are gathering our intelligence, and we’ll make sure the report gets to our superior and then know the necessary action to take, even within one month,” he added.
Watch the video below:
The National Security Secretariat in the Ashanti Region has imposed a month-long ban on mining activities and excavator movements in the Juaben Municipality.
— CITI FM 97.3 (@Citi973) July 16, 2026
The directive is to allow for the reclamation of degraded lands and restoration of affected water bodies, with security… pic.twitter.com/zKCgnBKziE
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