We are increasing surveillance to fight galamsey - Ahanta West MCE

Ahanta West Municipal Chief Executive (MCE), Ebenezer Aidoo, has stated that his administration is intensifying surveillance and deepening collaboration with security agencies to clamp down on illegal mining, popularly known as “galamsey”.

During an interview with Joy News’ AM Show on Wednesday, February 11, 2026, Aidoo noted that the fight against “galamsey” must be seen as a national responsibility rather than a partisan contest.

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“The situation with galamsey is a collective one. We must not see “galamsey” as a one-government business or an NPP or an NDC business. If we do that, collectively we will fail as a nation,” he said.

He argued that the current administration has portrayed stronger tactics in handling this canker over the past year, suggesting that earlier decisive action could have prevented the current scale of destruction.

“From the way we are going, if you look at the zeal and how my government within the last one year has been able to fight “galamsey”, if the previous administration had done that, I don't think that we would have been where we are. When we came, it was a free-for-all, you know, right from 2020, 2021, all the way to 2024; it was a free-for-all,” he stated.

“People were mining everywhere, and they could mine and mine even in rivers,” he added.

Aidoo, being a mining engineer by profession underscored his personal involvement in field operations, noting that he does not confine himself to office duties.

“Almost every time I make sure that I am on the field. I have intelligence on the field where people are mining, [and I] collaborate with NAIMOS, and make sure that we give them information, on certain areas that we cannot go to ourselves. They are there…” he explained.

He disclosed that renewed surveillance has become important, as illegal miners often return to sites once enforcement efforts ends.

“That is what we are doing. It's not easy. Just like I said, it's not 100 percent. But we are really making sure that we [keep] these guys [out],” he added.

SO/VPO