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The Coalition Against Galamsey Ghana, has commended government for revoking Executive Instrument (E.I.) 144, but says decisive action is still needed to protect the country’s forests, rivers and mining communities from illegal mining.
Speaking on behalf of the Coalition, Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Chamber of Mines, Ing. Dr. Kenneth Ashigbey, said progress announced by the Minister for Lands and Natural Resources, Hon. Emmanuel Amakye, on 15th July 2026, was not enough to reverse the damage.
“Ghana’s forests, rivers, and mining communities are not protected by press briefings. They are protected by sustained, fearless, uniform enforcement applied equally in every region against every excavator,” Dr. Ashigbey said at a press briefing in Accra.
Dr. Ashigbey praised the government’s cabinet decision on 24th June 2026 to revoke EI 144 as amended by EI 234, which had gazetted portions of the *Achimota Forest* for purposes other than its function as a protective green lung within Accra.
“We highly commend this government for choosing citizens’ well-being and intergenerational benefit over short-term political expedience,” he said.
He also acknowledged the Minister’s efforts toward the repeal of LI 2462, describing it as “a feather in its cap.” The Coalition further commended the Attorney General for dropping charges against the Atebubu , whom Dr. Ashigbey described as “gallant men and women who were fighting to protect the only stream that gave them water.”
Despite the policy wins, Dr. Ashigbey painted a grim picture of the state of Ghana’s natural resources.
“The source of water for over 5 million Ghanaians remains under serious pressure. Name of forest/marine area redacted in transcript] Critical to Ghana’s first marine protected area, is still under threat,” he said.
He cited the case of the Bibiani Forest District, where Forestry Commission staff last Friday had to demobilize an excavator operating illegally. He also referenced a legal mining concession granted to *Better Land* that communities and landowners continue to oppose.
“A cleared red zone is not the same as a safe forest,” he stated. “Most of our forest reserves remain under vicious encroachment from illegal miners, and the sheer scale is more than the Forestry Commission can manage alone.”
The Coalition urged the Inspector General of Police and the Attorney General to investigate the murder of a 30-year-old in *Kyebi-Kansa*, insisting “justice should be served in this case.”
Dr. Ashigbey called on government to urgently resource the Forestry Commission and “militarize the forestry” to halt all illegal mining in forest reserves.
“We are slacking in this fight,” he warned. “We ask again: empower the Forestry Commission and educate officers on the ground.”
The Coalition Against Galamsey Ghana said it will continue to monitor government action and hold authorities accountable until the country’s water bodies and forests are fully protected.
“Policy is important, but enforcement is everything,” Dr. Ashigbey concluded. “Until we see excavators seized and prosecutions sustained across all regions, the commendation will remain conditional.”
The Coalition Against Galamsey Ghana is a civil society alliance advocating for the protection of Ghana’s environment and natural resources from illegal mining activities._
