The government has announced plans to establish a permanent military base along the Ankobra River as part of its renewed war on illegal mining (galamsey).
This decision follows a high-level inspection of the river on Thursday, September 18, led by Lands and Natural Resources Minister Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah, Western Regional Minister Joseph Nelson, the Western Regional Security Council, and the National Anti-Illegal Mining Operations Secretariat (NAIMOS).
The delegation, which travelled by canoe from Gwira Wiaso to Gwira Akango, uncovered extensive devastation: cocoa farms converted into illegal mining sites, makeshift settlements in a galamsey hub known as “Chinese Town,” and hundreds of abandoned chanfans and pumps clogging the waterway. Once clear, the Ankobra River now flows thick and milky brown.
Visibly shaken, Minister Buah described the destruction as nothing short of a national crisis. “If this is not war, then I don’t see anything. We will not relent. We will not stop. We will fight until this water is restored,” he said. “That is why we are working with the President’s directive to deploy permanently the military and security forces along our river bodies.”
Captain Nana Kweku Owusu Domme, leader of NAIMOS, strongly endorsed the plan.
“This cannot be solved by one-off raids. We need to actually come and establish a base here to hold the ground. Some of these miners know we just come, conduct operations, and withdraw. Coming to stay here will be best. Then they will know we have come to stay.”
The minister further disclosed that government intends to revise regulations by expanding the buffer zone along rivers from 100 metres to one kilometre, a measure aimed at eliminating any legal cover for miners discharging harmful chemicals into water bodies.
For years, Ghanaians have known the Ankobra was polluted, but the inspection revealed a level of destruction far worse than imagined — a river under siege. With the announcement of a permanent military base, the government is signalling a tougher, uncompromising phase in its fight to reclaim the nation’s waters.
Source: Ina-Thaliah Quansah
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