President John Dramani Mahama has announced that illegal miners, commonly known as galamseyers, have been cleared from eight of the nine forest reserves that were previously overrun and severely damaged by unregulated mining activities.
Speaking at the Global Mining Summit on Monday, June 2, 2025, the President described the clearance as a major milestone in Ghana’s ongoing efforts to combat illegal mining and protect the environment.
“Working together with the small-scale mining sector, we will reclaim our forest reserves and restore the purity of our water bodies,” Mahama said. “Our river guards are actively clearing mining operations from water bodies and riverbanks.
As the Minister mentioned, we’ve successfully removed illegal miners from eight of the nine forest reserves classified as no-go zones.”
He emphasized the deployment of “river guards” as part of a broader strategy to restore degraded ecosystems and protect the country’s vital water resources.
President Mahama also unveiled new initiatives to curb illegal mining, including stricter regulations on the importation and use of excavators.
“Ghana has more excavators than any other country in Africa,” he noted. “We are changing the permitting system—no one will be allowed to import or ship an excavator into the country without prior approval.”
These measures, he added, are intended to ensure that mining equipment is properly tracked and used only in approved operations.
