A high-stakes anti-galamsey operation in the Kobro Forest Reserve has exposed the deep-seated challenge of political interference in Ghana’s fight against illegal mining.
On Monday afternoon, a joint task force comprising the Ashanti South Police Command and Logist Group Company Limited successfully apprehended four suspected illegal miners. However, the mission was nearly derailed when local political heavyweights allegedly stormed the site to obstruct the course of justice.
The operation targeted a site deep within the forest reserve in the Amansie Central District, where illegal miners have been devastating the environment.
The raid resulted in the arrest of four individuals: two alleged kingpins and two labourers.
Security forces also seized two excavators actively being used for the destruction of the forest, while several other pieces of mining equipment were destroyed on-site to prevent further illegal activity.
In a move that has sparked outrage, the NDC Chairman for Jacobu, Jacob Bobbin, accompanied by the Amansie Central NADMO Coordinator and other party executives, reportedly arrived at the scene to demand the immediate release of the suspects.
According to officials on the ground, the executives claimed the arrested persons were party affiliates and argued against the confiscation of the heavy machinery.
Seth Kofi Adjei, the Operations Manager of Logist Group Company Limited, recounted the tense encounter to the media:
“We seized four machines operating illegally near the Oda River in Kobro Forest. As we prepared to move them, the NDC chairman for Jacobu arrived with his group and some galamseyers. They claimed to have brought both the machines and the illegal miners to the site and argued that we should not confiscate the equipment.”
Despite the pressure, the anti-galamsey task force refused to yield. Mr Adjei emphasised that their mandate comes directly from the government to protect national resources from destruction.
“We are not conducting this operation on our own authority. It is in line with the government’s directive to end this menace, which is taking people’s lives, destroying our water bodies, and degrading our land,” he asserted.
He further revealed that political interference remains the single greatest hurdle affecting the company’s efforts to combat illegal mining and reclaim devastated forest lands.
Logist Group Company Limited is currently engaged in a public-private partnership with the Ghanaian government to restore lands ravaged by galamsey. To date, the company has successfully reclaimed over 500 acres of degraded land in the Ashanti Region.
Mr Adjei issued a stern warning to illegal miners to vacate forest reserves and reclaimed sites, stating that security operations will only intensify. He concluded with a plea for the state to shield the fight from partisan interests:
“I call on the government to intervene and prevent political interference in the fight against galamsey. Without such action, this battle cannot be won.”
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