The Inspector-General of Police’s (IGP) special anti-galamsey taskforce, established to enforce environmental laws against illegal mining( galamsey), has been withdrawn. The development was confirmed by environmental journalist Erastus Asare Donkor in a social media update.
Erastus shared an audio recording of the Chairman of the Small Scale Miners Association, Kojo Peprah, instructing members to return to their mining sites.
In the message, Peprah assured miners they could resume operations without fear, declaring that “any taskforce you see on your site is illegal and must be arrested.” He also urged miners whose excavators had been seized to present their documents to retrieve them.
The withdrawal comes on the back of growing criticism of the taskforce’s methods and mandate.
Just days earlier, Joseph Yamin, the National Organizer of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), urged President John Dramani Mahama to stop all taskforce operations. His call followed a violent clash between the police taskforce and residents of Bonteso in the Amansie West District, which left some officers injured and four residents, including an Assembly member, in custody.
Yamin described the taskforce’s actions as “very unfortunate,” accusing them of extortion rather than genuine enforcement. He argued that a pause was necessary to create space for dialogue and lasting solutions to the challenges of illegal and small-scale mining.
Reacting to the withdrawal, Donkor warned of dire environmental consequences if galamsey activities resume unchecked.
“Prepare for general galamsey!! I thought this government wanted to fight something that has already destroyed our major rivers and streams,” he wrote, urging journalists and citizens to take action against what he described as a spreading “cancer.”
