The toughest penalties target illegal gold mining, with a prison sentence of between 10 and 20 years, and a heavy fine for each affected cocoa tree.
I know diddly about Ghana, but from some supplemental reading, it sounds like there is ongoing troubles with illegal mining operations due to ongoing economic troubles with things like cocoa farms.
Some key bits:
(AP) Residents turn to community patrols as illegal gold mining grows in Ghana
The group is also driven by the sight of Ghana’s unemployed youth being attracted to illegal mining and the elusive promise of quick wealth. Meanwhile, the economy suffers: Ghana has lost $11.4 billion in the last five years to gold smuggling, the development nonprofit Swissaid said this year.
Rampant illegal mining, or galamsey — local shorthand for “gather and sell” — is a growing concern in this West African nation, Africa’s top gold producer.
Ghana’s once-promising economy collapsed under the strain of the COVID-19 pandemic. Inflation hit a 21-year high of over 50%. Nearly 39% of youth are unemployed, according to government data, pushing thousands into illegal mining.
The illegal mining has contaminated significant portions of Ghana’s water bodies with cyanide and mercury, according to government authorities and environmental groups.
As of January 2024, illegal miners were present in 44 of the country’s 288 forest reserves, Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources data show. It said nine of them were “completely taken by armed thugs.”
“All our water bodies that take their source here are clean because of our strong resistance to galamsey,” said Joseph Blay, a Catholic priest and Jema resident who helped to form the task force.
“If we stop fighting, we will lose everything,” he said.
Some Jema residents said they don’t support the task force because they want to work with the illegal miners for financial gain.
One 27-year-old resident said he was willing to sell his land to the miners, citing the lack of profit in farming. Fertilizer prices have tripled since 2022. He spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of retaliation.
Local leaders acknowledged that declining farming income and limited job opportunities could create divisions and weaken community enforcement of the mining ban. Residents called for investment in other work to make illegal mining less attractive.
