‘Shoot-to-Kill’ Is the Only Way — Forestry Official Backs Tough Action Against Galamseyers

A forestry official in the Western Region, Nana Poku Bosompem, has called for a drastic change in Ghana’s approach to the fight against illegal mining, arguing that the sophistication and aggression of illegal miners require stronger measures to protect the country’s forests.

According to him, illegal mining, popularly known as galamsey, has become particularly severe in the Western Region, threatening forest reserves and major water bodies.
He noted that the Western Region has 19 forest reserves covering about 209,333 hectares, with eight of the reserves reportedly affected by illegal mining.

Nana Poku Bosompem explained that illegal miners have adopted a strategy of moving from one section of a forest to another whenever enforcement activities intensify, making it difficult for forest guards to permanently contain the problem.

He further disclosed that about 4,000 hectares of forest have been affected, stressing that the lucrative nature of gold mining continues to attract miners into protected areas.
“I subscribe to the shoot-to-kill agenda because the miners are robust and sophisticated,” he said, while commending forest guards for their courage in confronting illegal miners.

He also called for a major shift in the country’s strategy, advocating the establishment of permanent camps and armed security personnel within forest reserves to protect the areas from illegal mining activities.

In a zoom meeting on Kessben Maakye show in Accra, he emphasized that, illegal miners are highly organised and closely monitor the movements of enforcement teams, making conventional approaches increasingly ineffective.
He said authorities must identify and eliminate illegal mining hotspots while deploying permanent security personnel to prevent miners from returning to cleared areas.

Nana Poku also disclosed that a permanent camp had been established at Cape Three Point, where enforcement personnel spent eight days conducting operations.

He said the exercise resulted in the destruction of 59 illegal mining structures, involving both men and women. According to him, they have arrested 41 people with 4 women who were nabbed around 2am. In addition he said they also confiscated 202 industrial water pumps, 125 chanfan machines.

He further observed that many of those operating on the mining sites are citizens from various ECOWAS countries and acknowledged that local communities derive economic benefits from activities associated with illegal mining.

However, he stressed that the environmental destruction caused by galamsey poses a far greater threat to the country’s forests and natural resources.
He therefore urged authorities to strengthen the protection of forest reserves and adopt more effective strategies to permanently halt illegal mining in Ghana.