The Deputy Director of A Rocha Ghana, Daryl Bosu, has called on the government to deploy intelligence agencies to uncover the individuals and companies behind illegal mining, locally known as galamsey.

His comments come after the Lands Minister ordered the immediate revocation of Akonta Mining's licence, citing evidence of the company's involvement in illegal mining activities.

However, Akonta Mining has strongly rejected these allegations. The company has vehemently denied any involvement in illegal mining, asserting that the claims are baseless and part of a broader attempt to tarnish their reputation.

Akonta Mining is thereby demanding fairness and justice, calling for a full investigation to clear their name.

Speaking on Joy News AM Show, Mr Bosu expressed his support for the government’s decision but also highlighted that revoking licences is only one step in addressing the problem.

He stressed the importance of exposing the bigwigs behind illegal mining, the individuals and companies who orchestrate and profit from these unlawful activities while remaining untouchable.

“It’s about time we really deployed our intelligence agencies to the ground,” Mr Bosu stated.

“Because companies like Akonta Mining, when they have been found to be engaging in illegal activities, as indicated by the Lands Minister, will come out and say they are not involved. And if you listen to some of the statements they put out yesterday, they claimed they’ve never mined in the area. All of that, supposedly, is to make it seem like this is all fabricated to make them look bad,” he added.

Mr Bosu stressed that such denials should not deter authorities from investigating further.

He argued that intelligence agencies must be fully mobilised to gather evidence and build strong cases to ensure that the real masterminds behind illegal mining are held accountable.

“For me, it tells you that we need to deploy our intelligence services and make sure we have an airtight case against these people,” he continued.

“They are going to fight back, especially now that the government is going after companies like Akonta Mining,” he noted.

Mr Bosu also raised concerns about the systemic issues in the mining sector, particularly the practice of permitting mining in restricted areas, which allows illegal mining to flourish.

“If you look at how they systematically allow people to mine in areas where mining is not permitted, it shows this issue is more deeply entrenched than we’ve even paid attention to,” Mr Bosu said.

“We need to get all our intelligence services and stakeholders on the ground to really fish out some of these big guys who are actually hiding and pushing others to go and mine,” he added.

As the debate intensifies, Mr Bosu has questioned the continued denials from Akonta Mining, urging the government to look beyond these surface-level statements.

“Now they’re saying they’re not the ones mining, so who was mining?” he asked.

“I’m waiting for us to get into it, discuss, and ask a lot of questions when the prosecutions start. I’m very happy this development has happened because it gives us the opportunity to interrogate it thoroughly and get to the bottom of it once and for all,” he said.

Mr Bosu emphasised the need for a comprehensive, intelligence-driven approach to tackling illegal mining in Ghana.

“We need to ensure that those behind the scenes who push people into these illegal activities are held accountable. If we truly want to stop galamsey, we must focus on the big guys.