The Minister for Lands and Natural Resources, Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah, has announced a sweeping new measure to combat illegal mining and environmental degradation, declaring the country’s forest reserves and water bodies as national security zones.
Speaking in an interview on GTV on Wednesday, the minister said the move marks “a major shift from previous interventions” and signals the government’s readiness to take a tougher stance against illegal mining, popularly known as galamsey.
“The president has made it very clear that we are moving a step that says that all the water bodies and the forest reserves are going to be national security zones. You know what that means? Stress on no-go,” Buah stressed.
The new measure, he explained, will allow permanent security forces to be deployed to safeguard the areas. “Why did we establish the Blue Water Guards? It was to protect our water bodies. Now we are going even further, preparing to deploy permanent security forces in these areas,” he said.
According to him, while the announcement has not gone as far as declaring a state of emergency—something civil society groups have persistently called for—it has been welcomed by some senior officials, including the CEO of the Environmental Protection Authority.
Buah insisted that Ghana has the resources to take stronger actions. “It’s not as if we don’t have what it takes to go radical. We do have what it takes,” he argued, suggesting that the country’s security forces could adopt more aggressive measures to deter illegal miners.
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