Rollout excavator tracking system nationwide to combat galamsey – Ken Ashigbey

The Media Coalition Against Illegal Mining has called on the government to expand its excavator tracking system nationwide to strengthen the fight against illegal mining.

The call was made during a visit by the Coalition and A Rocha Ghana to the Ghana Mine Repository and Tracking Control Centre—a facility dedicated to monitoring the movement of earth-moving equipment within mining concessions.

During the visit on Wednesday, May 7, the Coalition’s Convenor, Dr. Ken Ashigbey, urged the urgent nationwide rollout of the tracking system, stating that it would significantly enhance efforts to curb galamsey.

“These excavators are not mobile phones you can put in your pocket. With this tracking and all of that, the police will then be able to monitor its activities. If your excavator is not meant for a particular activity, and you get to the barrier, the police should be able to tell based on the QR code that you have on your vehicle.

“So, we have everything that we need to deal with this terrorism that is going on. I think the major call to the minister and the CEO is to be able to scale this up,” he stated.

Meanwhile, President John Dramani Mahama, reaffirmed his commitment to ending mining activities in Ghana’s forest reserves, announcing plans to amend the Minerals and Mining Act, 2003 (Act 703) to permanently outlaw such operations.

Speaking on the progress of his administration’s first 120 days, President Mahama outlined a comprehensive strategy aimed at sanitising the mining sector, including legal reforms, enforcement action, and land reclamation efforts.

“The first 120 days, we’ve taken decisive action through a five-point strategy to overhaul and sanitise the mining sector. This includes regulatory reforms and strengthening law enforcement, including joint task forces, arrest and seizure of mining equipment, stakeholder collaboration, and reclamation of degraded lands.

“Seven out of nine reserves have been reclaimed, and illegal miners have been flushed out of these forest reserves,” Mahama said.

“Concerning the ban on mining in forest reserves, on March 20, 2025, a legislative instrument L.I. 2462 was presented to Parliament to amend the Environmental Protection (Mining in Forest Reserves) Regulation. This amendment removes the president’s power to approve mining in forest reserves,” he explained.