President John Dramani Mahama has issued a strict directive barring all government appointees from engaging in any form of mining—legal or illegal—as part of efforts to tackle Ghana’s environmental crisis.
Speaking at the launch of the Tree for Life Reforestation Initiative in the Atwima Nwabiagya South Municipality on Friday, March 21, 2025, Mahama made it clear that any official who wishes to mine must first resign.
“I have directed that no government appointee at any level should engage in any form of legal or illegal mining. If you want to be a miner, leave the government and go and be a miner,” he declared.
Mahama also instructed security and regulatory agencies to intensify the fight against illegal mining (galamsey), emphasizing its devastating impact on farmlands, rivers, and communities.
“Farmers are losing their farmlands, rivers are turning brown and toxic with pollution, and entire communities are being affected,” he lamented.
The Tree for Life Reforestation Initiative, spearheaded by the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources, aims to restore degraded lands, especially those destroyed by illegal mining and deforestation.
Lands Minister Emmanuel Armah Kofi Buah on his part stressed the urgency of this initiative, warning that Ghana’s forest cover is disappearing at an alarming rate, posing serious ecological risks.
