Water Guards to Take Over Galamsey Fight from Military - Kofi Buah

Accra, Ghana - 27 Jan, 2025 - The Minister-Designate for Lands and Natural Resources, Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah has stated that he intends to introduce a new team of water guards to combat the country's long-standing problem of illegal mining also known as 'galamsey'.

According to him, this move is aimed at protecting the country's rivers and water bodies, which have been severely polluted by the activities of illegal miners.

Speaking before Parliament's Appointments Committee, Mr Armah-Kofi Buah stated that the current approach of deploying the military to tackle illegal mining has proven to be costly and unsustainable. Instead, the new water guards will be trained to patrol the country's waterways and prevent illegal mining activities.

“We’re already aware of the efforts of the security services, especially when it comes to our polluted waters. Today, as we speak, the state of our rivers is nothing to write home about. The police and the military have played a critical role. If I get a chance as a minister we’re going to evaluate the new programme. For example, I have very new exciting ideas about what to do with the protection of our environment,'' he stated.

“One of the problems I got to know was that it’s not cheap to get the military to continue permanently in these locations. It used to be that they would come to a place and clear everybody [illegal miners], and for 6 months nobody would be there. Now, they come, clear and within one month they come back. So we have to think about new ideas.

“We have forest guards, what about water guards? So these ideas are going to be thought through. I was thinking about the creation of water guards who are going to be trained and they are going to fight for the soul of the country,'' he added.

Source: Lead News Online