Residents turn to community patrols as illegal gold mining grows in
Ghana
[November 10, 2025] By
EDWARD ACQUAH
JEMA, Ghana (AP) — As day broke in a remote part of western Ghana, a
priest, farmers and other residents combed through the forests, looking
for signs of illegal gold mining.
They have done this for the past year as part of a grassroots task force
created to combat the mining that has poisoned rivers in one of the
world's largest gold producing countries.
The group is also driven by the sight of Ghana's unemployed youth being
attracted to illegal mining and the elusive promise of quick wealth.
Meanwhile, the economy suffers: Ghana has lost $11.4 billion in the last
five years to gold smuggling, the development nonprofit Swissaid said
this year.
The task force's 14 members call themselves the Jema Anti-Galamsey
Advocacy, and their arrests of suspected illegal miners have sparked
debate in Ghana’s Western North region over their potential abuse of
power.
Members point to the 450-square-kilometer (173-square-mile) Jema area's
relatively clean water bodies as evidence that their approach can be
effective.
A weakening economy
Rampant illegal mining, or galamsey — local shorthand for “gather and
sell” — is a growing concern in this West African nation, Africa’s top
gold producer.
Ghana's once-promising economy collapsed under the strain of the
COVID-19 pandemic. Inflation hit a 21-year high of over 50%. Nearly 39%
of youth are unemployed, according to government data, pushing thousands
into illegal mining.
The illegal mining has contaminated significant portions of Ghana’s
water bodies with cyanide and mercury, according to government
authorities and environmental groups.
As of January 2024, illegal miners were present in 44 of the country’s
288 forest reserves, Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources data show.
It said nine of them were “completely taken by armed thugs.”
Tip-offs from villagers
Since 2015, the Jema community of about 15,000 people has banned all
mining on its land, empowered by a law that grants local chiefs powers
to make and enforce customary law. Chiefs and the heads of clans and
families serve as land custodians.
The new task force usually patrols water bodies and the Jema Forest
Reserve, wielding sticks in place of guns, at least once a week,
watching for changes in water color as a sign of mining activity
upstream and for new clearings in the forests.
When it receives a tip-off from villagers, it arrests the suspects and
hands them over to the district police office. Such arrests are allowed
by laws that grant powers to citizens to make arrests in certain cases.
So far, the group has arrested two Nigerien nationals caught attempting
to mine gold in the forest. The court case has proceeded slowly, and
villagers seek the establishment of special courts to try illegal
miners.
Task force members say they are filling a void left by a lack of
government enforcement.
“All our water bodies that take their source here are clean because of
our strong resistance to galamsey,” said Joseph Blay, a Catholic priest
and Jema resident who helped to form the task force.
“If we stop fighting, we will lose everything,” he said.
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A woman fetches water from a stream in the Jema community in the
Western North Region, Ghana, Thursday, Sept. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Tsraha
Yaw)
 Another member, Patrick Fome, said
the local Ehole River was starting to turn a milky brown color, a
sign that illegal miners appeared to be working upstream.
“We cannot go there now without adequate preparation,” Fome said,
calling their unarmed patrol work dangerous. ”We sometimes receive
death threats."
A national crackdown
A year ago, Ghana saw nationwide protests against illegal mining.
Thousands took to the streets to demand a government crackdown.
President John Mahama, who took office in January, has inaugurated a
national task force to combat the practice. But he has rejected
calls for a state of emergency, which would grant more powers to
police and the military to tackle the issue, saying his government
has not exhausted all other approaches.
The government’s inability to crack down on illegal mining points to
a lack of political will, said Daryl Bosu, deputy national director
for the A Rocha Ghana conservation nonprofit.
While the Jema task force could have its benefits, operating without
the supervision of security forces could lead to human rights abuses
by its members, said Festus Kofi Aubyn, a regional coordinator with
the West Africa Network for Peacebuilding, a civil society group.
“If the task force is not properly regulated by the state, it could
have dangerous consequences, including ethnic targeting or
stereotyping,” he said.
Tensions at home
Some Jema residents said they don't support the task force because
they want to work with the illegal miners for financial gain.
One 27-year-old resident said he was willing to sell his land to the
miners, citing the lack of profit in farming. Fertilizer prices have
tripled since 2022. He spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of
retaliation.
Local leaders acknowledged that declining farming income and limited
job opportunities could create divisions and weaken community
enforcement of the mining ban. Residents called for investment in
other work to make illegal mining less attractive.
Blay, the priest, proposed turning the Jema Forest Reserve into a
tourism park to create sustainable jobs.
“And if the government is really serious to fight, we can use the
Jema template to also diffuse it in other communities," he said.
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