Albert Kan Dapaah, Minister of National Security, has alerted that terrorists may exploit the country’s illegal mining activities, known as galamsey.
The minister stated during a press conference in Accra that terrorists could use the proceeds from galamsey to fund their criminal activities.
Terrorists have been drawn to gold mining areas in Burkina Faso and Mali, according to the minister.
Kan Dapaah, on the other hand, assured that the Ministry of National Security is aware of the situation and is striving diligently to mitigate its repercussions.
He provided an update on the Accra Initiative, which works to avoid the spread of terrorism from the Sahel and to combat transnational organised crime and violent extremism in the border areas of ECOWAS member countries.
“In Mali, in Burkina Faso, the terrorists have always been attracted to gold mining areas. Clearly, they try to make money from gold mining activities to undertake the criminal activities that they do.
“The criminals may want to take advantage of galamsey activities in our country to raise money to do what they do in other countries and what they may plan to do in our country.
“We are aware of this. We are studying it. We do know what has to be done in this area, and we work hard to make sure we are not overtaken by events. But clearly, one way that you can make cheap money to go and undertake some of these criminal activities is galamsey, so it’s of interest,” he said.
The West African sub-region has been confronted with terrorist threats, as Ghana’s neighbours Côte d’Ivoire and Burkina Faso have suffered attacks from terror groups in recent times.
The development has compelled the government to launch the “See Something, Say Something” campaign, which is aimed at encouraging citizens to report any suspicious activity.
In the meantime, galamsey operations have been scrutinised after the arrest of Chinese galamsey gang leader Aisha Huang and three other accomplices.
Galamsey activities continue to degrade water bodies and vegetative cover, with the Ghana Water Company Limited warning that it may soon close down its facilities in some operational areas due to high turbidity levels in the water.
