Galamsey on Black Volta threatens livelihoods, Bui Dam 

“I am frustrated. I send security people to clamp down on these galamseyers, and they jump in the water. My people cannot swim. When we go back, they come back. Can we keep going like this? It is frustrating and syphoning too much money from our coffers.”

Pain, confusion, helplessness, and depression were clearly visible on the face and heard in the voice of Alele Veronica Heming as she spoke these words. Madam Heming, the District Chief Executive of Bole, a town in the Savannah Region, recounted the efforts made by her office to crack down on illegal mining (galamsey) activities on the Black Volta, a major water body in Ghana that is part of a transnational river system stretching through Ghana, Burkina Faso, and Cote d’Ivoire.

“In fact, the situation is so painful that not only locals are involved,” Madam Heming says. “They also bring in the Chinese with excavators, and the Chinese are fronted by our own Ghanaians. The Assemblyman and the Chiefs are working together, and my colleagues are part of them, I must clarify. Whenever they have meetings, they try to keep it secret so you don’t know who is involved. Where do we go from here? I can tell you that in ten years’ time, we will be in trouble.”

Impact on Ghana, Cote d’Ivoire & Burkina Faso

The Black Volta River flows through Burkina Faso for approximately 1,352 km before merging with the White Volta in Ghana, at the upper end of the Volta Lake. It then acts as a border between Ghana and Burkina Faso, and later between Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana. In Ghana, it delineates the boundary between the Savannah and Bono regions. The Bui Dam, a hydroelectric power plant, is situated on the river, just south of the Bui National Park, which the river traverses. The Black Volta converges with the White Volta in the Savannah region, and the situation in the White Volta is similarly dire due to the ongoing devastation in the Black Volta.

The impact of illegal mining on the Black Volta has been severe, affecting the environment, the national purse and the communities that depend on it for their livelihoods. The river’s pollution has led to a decrease in fish populations, impacting the local fishing industry. Moreover, the contaminated water poses a significant health hazard to those who use the river as a source of drinking water.

This precarious situation not only affects Ghana but also its neighbouring countries, including Burkina Faso and Côte d’Ivoire.

In Ghana, individuals and families bear the brunt of the negative impact of illegal mining in the Black Volta. 

Osman Alidu, a 25-year-old accounting graduate and tricycle operator, relies on fetching water from the polluted Black Volta to pay his fees and support his family due to the lack of job opportunities. He is demanding action to stop the degradation of the river before it is too late. 

“No one comes to a community without paying homage to the chiefs and I believe these illegal miners did that,” he says. “Without the support of community leaders this heinous crime cannot continue. The earlier we act, the better for us all.”

Rose Morklah, a 45-year-old mother of five who works as a washer, is disappointed that very little has been done to clamp down on mining in the Black Volta. She claims that it all started when a group of Chinese nationals came to the community with the promise of providing them with potable water. This earned them the trust of the people but those who promised to improve the quality of their water supply turned around to pollute their only source of water. 

“You see, this thing has not benefited us in this community. Instead, it has made our situation worse,” Rose says. “The pollution is immense, and there are a lot of communities along the banks of the river whose livelihoods are now seriously affected due to the pollution. This is also our only source of drinking water, so you can imagine the health hazards we are exposed to.”

So if the community is not benefiting in any way from the illegal mining activities in the Black Volta, who are the actual beneficiaries?  

Erastus Asare Donkor, a environmental journalist with Joy News, has extensively covered stories on illegal mining in Ghana. He believes that a network of individuals, including state officials and politically exposed persons, is profiting from this illegal trade. 

Bole District Chief Executive, Alele Veronica Heming, insists, however, that the real beneficiaries are a foreign cabal. 

“There are foreign nationals who buy the gold and smuggle it out,” she says. “It does not come through the Bank of Ghana, and they evade taxes. We have 17 unapproved routes in Bole alone. How heavy is gold? You can put it in your pocket, and then you are gone.”

She warns that if illegal mining in the Black Volta continues, not only will her people suffer but critical national infrastructure like the Bui dam, could also be severely affected and no Ghanaian will be spared. 

“It’s alarming and costly. This illegal activity is draining a significant amount of money from the national kitty,” she says. “My concern is the impact on the Bui dam. We worked hard to build it, and we can’t allow this to happen to ourselves.”

Impact on nationwide water supply 

Ghana is blessed with numerous river bodies that are interconnected, meaning that damage to one river affects many others from upstream to downstream, according to Stanley Martey, the Public Relations Officer for the Ghana Water Company Limited. 

Daryl Bosu of A Rocha Ghana echoes this sentiment. 

The Ankobra, Pra, Densu, Tano, Oti, Birim, Offin, and other rivers in Ghana have been significantly impacted by illegal mining activities, particularly in the Western, Eastern, and Ashanti Regions. Mining in the Black Volta has led to extensive pollution impacting the Northern Region, one of the driest areas in Ghana with limited water sources.

Stanley Martey emphasises the importance of managing water bodies effectively to ensure their sustainability for the future. He expresses concern about how the pollution of the Black Volta could impact the Volta River, which is currently the only river that can be relied upon potable water. 

Politically exposed persons involved?

The question that remains is: Who is allowing mining in the Black Volta? How much money is Ghana losing, and who is truly benefiting at the expense of the economy?

“These people are operating illegally because nobody is giving them a permit,” Alele Victoria Heming, the Bole DCE says. “It is a terrible situation, frustrating, and dire. We don’t have the sea; this is all we have. My water is now brown – like cocoa and milk. That’s what we have here.” 

The problem, according to her, persists and is more frustrating due to the porous borders in the district where the gold is smuggled and the constant change of tactics of these illegal miners.

Dr. Ken Ashigbey, Convenor of the Media Coalition Against Galamsey, stresses the importance of politicians acknowledging the galamsey crisis and dealing with it decisively. 

“It’s dangerous and huge but we are playing with it,” he says. “This is not about politics; it is about our country and our future. We have a big problem on our hands and we should not play with it.”