…The rivers are dying, the farms are gasping, and the unborn are left to drink and eat from the sins of their ancestors.

By Professor Douglas BOATENG

It begins as a pit in the earth but ends as an open grave of poisoned rivers, contaminated farmlands, a public health crisis, and compromised national sovereignty. Ghana’s illegal gold mining crisis, known locally as Galamsey, has long since morphed beyond a criminal economy. What started as artisanal panning has grown into a conservatively estimated billion-dollar shadow industry.

Foreign hands, local assistance and silence

The most painful irony is this: the worst perpetrators could never commit such acts in their own countries. Foreign-backed syndicates, often better resourced than local law enforcement, violate Ghana’s environmental integrity in ways unthinkable under the laws of their own countries. But they do not operate in isolation. The sad and unfortunate reality is that \xa0a network of local, complex, and self-serving collaborators enables them:

• Citizens who stay silent out of fear or financial gain
• Chiefs who lease sacred land
• Security officers who turn a blind eye
• Politicians who benefit from the proceeds

The inconvenient truth – These foreign actors will depart with full pockets. Ghana will remain behind with poisoned wells, collapsing ecosystems, and a generation born into illness. This is not merely illegal mining. It is the commodification of Ghana’s soul, exported piece by piece for someone else’s wealth.