Environmental activist Daryl Bossu has called for an aggressive, intelligence-led campaign to root out the powerful individuals backing illegal mining operations in Ghana.
He believes the country has reached a turning point under President John Dramani Mahama’s administration and must now utilize its full security and investigative machinery to dismantle the networks sustaining illegal mining, known locally as galamsey.
“It’s about time we really deploy the intelligence agencies to the ground – because when companies like Akonta Mining are found to be engaging in some illegalities, as has been indicated by the minister, they will come out to say they are not”
Daryl Bossu, Environmental Activist
Bossu’s comments come in the wake of new allegations against Akonta Mining, a company previously accused of illegal operations in protected forest reserves.
The Minister for Lands and Natural Resources, Hon. Emmanuel Armah Kofi Buah, recently indicated the company was involved in unlawful activities, prompting strong denials from the company, which insists it has never mined in the area in question.
Bossu emphasized that companies accused of environmental abuse often mount public relations campaigns to deny wrongdoing, thereby making enforcement difficult.
“For me, it tells you that look, we need to deploy an intelligent service and make sure that we have an airtight case against these people because they’re also going to fight back”
Daryl Bossu, Environmental Activist
Bossu explained that such an approach in cracking down on galamsey masterminds and bigwigs would leave little room for escape and almost guarantee justice.
Expose Hidden Financiers
Bossu further criticized what he described as systemic “complicity,” accusing key actors of enabling illegal mining despite the absence of proper permits.
“To see that the government now is going after companies like Akonta Mining, tells you that, look, this is being instituted more than we have ever paid attention to. Now they are saying they are not the ones who were mining, so who was mining?”
Daryl Bossu, Environmental Activist
Despite expressing satisfaction with recent moves by the government to prosecute offenders, he insisted that intelligence services must focus on exposing those orchestrating galamsey from behind the scenes.
According to Bossu, identifying and prosecuting those pulling the strings, those “who are actually hiding and pushing people to go and mine,” especially in the wrong places, is essential to ending the practice for good.
“We will need to get all our intelligence, all our military, everybody on the ground to really fish out some of these big guys,” he reiterated, urging state institutions to work together, combining the efforts of intelligence, military, and regulatory agencies.
Firing MinCom CEO
In addition to his push for intelligence-led investigations, Bossu took direct aim at the Minerals Commission and its CEO, Martin Kwaku Ayisi. “We also heard about the fact that some mining concessions and leases had to be revoked as of December 7th,” Bossu stated.
He argued that the recent revocation of mining leases and discovery of irregularities point to a failure in regulatory oversight, and that Ayisi should no longer remain in office.
“Now if we are seeing all of these issues, how come the person who was in charge of the Minerals Commission, supposedly giving out all these leases, is still at post?”
Daryl Bossu, Environmental Activist
Bossu questioned the government and the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources’ tolerance for what he called unacceptable leadership at the Commission. “You are reshuffling the police commanders and all of that – we need to reshuffle the CEO of the Minerals Commission.”
He argued that if senior officers in the security services could be reshuffled, so too should the head of a regulatory body accused of presiding over lease mismanagement.
“As far as we are concerned, he is also complicit in all the devastation and the irregularities in the allocation of mining concessions all across the country and so therefore, he shouldn’t be holding his post”
Daryl Bossu, Environmental Activist
As the new government takes a firmer stance against illegal mining, Bossu’s call signals rising public demand for deeper accountability and institutional reform.
With mounting evidence of irregularities, the handling of the Akonta Mining case and the status of top officials like Martin Kwaku Ayisi may become key indicators of how serious the administration is about fighting environmental crimes.
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