Ghana risks being viewed as complicit in violent extremism and terrorism in the Sahel unless it tackles illegal mining, Environment, Science and Technology Minister Dr Zanetor Agyeman-Rawlings has warned.
Speaking to district chief executives in Kumasi on Monday, November 2, she said money generated by illegal mining was helping to support violence in the region.
“We also know of the fact that a lot of the resources from illegal mining are feeding violent extremism and terrorism in the Sahel,” she said.
Dr Agyeman-Rawlings was addressing Ghana’s first national conference for MMDCEs on illegal small-scale mining, organised by the Local Government Ministry under the theme “Combating Illegal Mining in Ghana: The Role of Local Governments”.
“Let it not be said that Ghana has become complicit in violent extremism and terrorism by not handling the canker of illegal mining,” she added.
She did not identify an armed group or refer to a study or intelligence report supporting the claim about Ghana’s alleged links to terrorism in the Sahel.
The minister, a medical doctor and MP for Klottey Korle, assumed responsibility for the ministry in September after Parliament approved her nomination on August 27.
UN reports on gold trafficking
A 2023 threat assessment by the UN Office on Drugs and Crime, titled Gold Trafficking in the Sahel, said armed groups, including violent extremist organisations, had expanded their influence in artisanal gold-mining areas by providing funding, recruits and supplies.
The report examined Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania and Niger. It did not link the financing of any armed group to illegal mining in Ghana.
A separate UNODC report published in 2024 said proceeds from trafficked gold, drugs and fuel were being used to buy weapons and vehicles, allowing armed groups to continue carrying out deadly attacks.
Dr Agyeman-Rawlings also highlighted the regional consequences of galamsey, saying pollution in the Tano and Bia rivers earlier this year had raised concerns over contaminated water crossing into Cote d’Ivoire.
“ This should remind us that illegal mining is not just an environmental challenge within our jurisdiction. It has implications for our regional relations and national security,” she said.
The Tano and Bia were among the rivers prioritised, alongside the Birim, Ankobra, Pra and Offin, when NAIMOS launched Operation Water Shield on September 11.
The minister said Environmental Protection Agency assessments conducted with partners had found hazardous levels of mercury, lead, arsenic and cadmium in mining-affected areas. Children and pregnant women, she said, faced the greatest danger.
She warned that boreholes located far from mining sites could also be contaminated, including those supplying drinking water to schoolchildren.
“It may seem that trouble may never come to Ghana because God has been so gracious to Ghana; let’s not tempt fate, let’s act now,” she said.
At a Media General climate forum in Accra on Tuesday, October 27, she had urged people not to call for the release of arrested galamsey suspects, saying: “We cannot eat gold.”
District officials warned
Dr Agyeman-Rawlings told the MMDCEs that illegal mining could not be defeated through directives issued from Accra alone. She reminded them of their responsibilities under the Local Governance Act, 2016 (Act 936).
“Local government is the pillar holding our republic up; when it disintegrates, that will be the end of our democracy,” she said.
She also said Ghana should not sacrifice farming, water security and other sectors in pursuit of gold.
Local Government Minister Mahama Ayariga warned that any Regional Minister or district chief executive who ignored galamsey in their area would face sanctions.
Lands Minister Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah called on every assembly affected by mining to establish or strengthen a district anti-illegal mining coordination mechanism involving regulators, security agencies and community representatives.
