The rivers of Ghana are dying. From the Ankobra to the Pra, illegal miners armed with chanfan machines, cyanide and apparent political protection are poisoning the water sources on which millions depend.
The forests are no longer safer.
When President Mahama took office, 45 forest reserves were compromised by galamsey. That figure has risen to at least 50, with more than 9,000 hectares now devastated. The machines, sources tell The Chronicle, are still running.
In its most urgent statement to date, the Ghana Coalition Against Galamsey (GCAG) issued a sweeping indictment of the administration’s anti-galamsey record on Saturday, March 28, 2026.
Signed by Conveners Kenneth Ashigbey, Awula Serwah, Senyo Hosi and Daryl Bosu, the statement spans forests, rivers, human rights, political accountability and enforcement resourcing.
Its central verdict is unambiguous: the fight against galamsey is failing and President Mahama must personally intervene before the damage becomes irreversible.
“Every chanfan machine still sitting in a river is an act of state negligence” –GCAG.
Atewa and Achimota: Two Forests, One Urgent Test
The coalition’s gravest concern centres on the Atewa Forest Reserve in the Eastern Region, one of Africa’s most critically important upland evergreen forests and the source of drinking water for over five million Ghanaians, which it says faces unprecedented illegal mining and imminent large-scale encroachment.
Despite government declarations that forests are ‘red zones’ off-limits to mining, the GCAG reports no meaningful enforcement on the ground.
The group is also demanding the immediate revocation of Executive Instrument 144 to secure long-term protection for Achimota Forest. It added that a petition to this effect has already been submitted to the Presidency.
“Even more critical, Mr President, is the urgency to repeal EI 144 to guarantee lasting protection for Achimota Forest. Our petition has been before you since last year, and more recently, the Board of the Forestry Commission has made a similar request.
“Ghanaians expect decisive action to safeguard Achimota by revoking EI 144. Time is of the essence.”
A formal petition for its repeal has sat before the presidency for over a year and the Board of the Forestry Commission has separately made the same request.
‘The time is ticking,’ the coalition warned.
Cyanide in the Rivers, Silence from Government
The water crisis has taken a more sinister turn. The GCAG has disclosed that illegal miners are now using cyanide, which it describes as ‘a weapon of mass destruction’ in rivers and mining pits across affected communities.
The chemical causes severe neurological damage and can render water sources permanently undrinkable.
Chanfan machines remain embedded in riverbeds across the country despite the training of blue water guards and police deployment to every district.
The government has issued no public response to the cyanide disclosures. The coalition is demanding an immediate action plan and crackdown and is calling on the government to honour its promise to publish weekly water quality data, including turbidity and heavy metal levels in national newspapers. That commitment was made publicly. It has not been fulfilled.
A Child Murdered, Activists Prosecuted, The Powerful Untouched
The human cost carries a name: Pious Nketia Nkansah, 13 years old, murdered at Adelekezo in circumstances the GCAG says may implicate corporate actors operating in a galamsey-affected area. The coalition is demanding a full investigation and swift prosecution.
Meanwhile, five environmental defenders known as the Atronsu 5 face state prosecution for peaceful advocacy, the GCAG wants all charges dropped immediately, arguing that criminalising activists while shielding miners is a fundamental violation of the State’s duty to protect its citizens.
The coalition’s political charge is its sharpest yet.
President Mahama has publicly admitted that ‘his people’ are involved in galamsey. The GCAG is demanding he moves beyond that admission to concrete action: name the individuals, order arrests and release the long-suppressed Frimpong-Boateng Report, which reportedly identifies politically exposed persons linked to illegal mining networks.
Years after the report was compiled, not a single prosecution has followed. Not one District or Municipal Chief Executive has been sanctioned, despite the President’s pledge to make anti-galamsey performance a condition of their tenure.
A separate investigation ordered by the Attorney-General into two NDC-affiliated individuals has produced no public findings.
The GCAG is demanding the report be released or the government admit the inquiry was not genuine.
A Demand, Not a Discussion
The GCAG is not asking for dialogue. It is setting a deadline. It wants time-bound presidential commitments, the immediate release of NAIMOS’ budgetary allocation, and the operationalisation of all 21 promised alternative livelihood sites of which only two are currently functional.
It is also demanding that the practice of deporting foreign illegal miners without prosecution be ended; foreign criminals, it insists, must face Ghanaian law.
Ghana’s forests and rivers cannot be replaced. The coalition is now asking, with unmistakable urgency, whether this presidency grasps that reality before it is too late.
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