Joe Jackson, CEO of Dalex Finance, has urged the John Mahama administration to intensify efforts against illegal small-scale mining, commonly known as ‘galamsey’. He emphasized that the previous New Patriotic Party (NPP) government faced electoral defeat partly due to its inadequate response to this issue.
Jackson participated in the #StopGalamseyNow protest in Accra, a march that confronted the dangers of illegal mining and its devastating environmental and economic impacts. On March 7, he posted on X, “Lest the ‘powers that be’ forget: Galamsey was one of the reasons NPP lost this election.
Meanwhile, briefing Parliament on the state of Ghana’s forests on Thursday, February 20, the Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah, disclosed that 44 of Ghana’s forest reserves are under serious attack by heavily armed, illegal, small-scale miners.
However, the government has successfully reclaimed the Shelter Belt, the largest of nine forest reserves that had fallen under the control of illegal miners for almost a decade. The operation was carried out with the assistance of security services, marking a significant step in the fight against illegal mining.
By: Leticia Osei
