{"id":14219,"date":"2025-11-06T10:34:51","date_gmt":"2025-11-06T10:34:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.fishfmonline.com\/?p=14219"},"modified":"2025-11-06T10:34:51","modified_gmt":"2025-11-06T10:34:51","slug":"shut-it-all-down-sophia-akuffo-demands-total-ban-on-mining-as-galamsey-ravages-ghana","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.fishfmonline.com\/?p=14219","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Shut it all down\u2019 \u2013 Sophia Akuffo demands total ban on mining as galamsey ravages Ghana"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Former Chief Justice Sophia Akuffo has issued a powerful call for a complete moratorium on all forms of mining in Ghana.<\/p>\n<p>She warns that the nation is destroying its water bodies and poisoning itself through illegal mining, known as\u00a0<em>galamsey<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p>Speaking on Channel One TV on Wednesday, November 5, Justice Akuffo said the crisis has been allowed to fester for years due to political interference and national complacency.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote\"><p>\u201cGalamsey didn\u2019t become intractable in 2025; it became intractable long ago. And we have been playing games around it, dancing around it, and now it has become a political issue,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt has grown so many thieves that it is killing and poisoning everybody.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>She described the situation as a national disgrace, urging citizens to rise against the destruction of rivers, farmlands, and food crops through reckless exploitation of the country\u2019s natural resources.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote\"><p>\u201cIt\u2019s about time Ghanaians woke up and stopped being childish. We cannot continue to pollute our waters and our lands. A gift from God, we have used it to poison ourselves \u2014 that is wrong,\u201d she said.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Justice Akuffo called for an immediate halt to every form of mining \u2014 legal or illegal, small-scale or large-scale \u2014 until the government can bring order and responsibility to the sector. \u201cI believe there should be a moratorium on every form of mining, whether legal or illegal, small-scale or galamsey, until we sort ourselves out. This quest to mine our resources has gone out of hand. Let\u2019s call for a pause.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Her comments come after a violent attack on officials of the National Anti-Illegal Mining Operations Secretariat (NAIMOS) at Hwidiem in the Ahafo Region on November 1.<\/p>\n<p>Police reports indicate that the team was attacked by a mob after arresting illegal miners near Bronikrom. They had seized weapons, unregistered vehicles, and mobile phones when the assault occurred. The MP for Asutifi North, Ebenezer Kwaku Addo, is alleged to have intervened at the scene, demanding the release of the arrested suspects.<\/p>\n<p>Disclaimer: The content provided on Fish FM Online is for informational and entertainment purposes only. While we strive for accuracy, we do not guarantee the completeness, reliability, or timeliness of the information presented. Fish FM Online and its affiliates are not responsible for any errors or omissions, nor for any decisions made based on the content available on our platform.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Former Chief Justice Sophia Akuffo has issued a powerful call for a complete moratorium on all forms of mining in Ghana. She warns that the nation is destroying its water bodies and poisoning itself through illegal mining, known as\u00a0galamsey. Speaking on Channel One TV on Wednesday, November 5, Justice Akuffo said the crisis has been [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":123457,"featured_media":14220,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[41],"tags":[2658,4427],"class_list":["post-14219","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general-news","tag-galamsey","tag-sophia-akuffo"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fishfmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14219","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fishfmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fishfmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fishfmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/123457"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fishfmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=14219"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.fishfmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14219\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14221,"href":"https:\/\/www.fishfmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14219\/revisions\/14221"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fishfmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/14220"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fishfmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=14219"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fishfmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=14219"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fishfmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=14219"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}