Retired military officer and security analyst, Colonel Festus Aboagye, has attributed the Ghana’s escalating environmental degradation from illegal mining, popularly known as galamsey, to the increasing use of advanced machinery in the practice.

Speaking on Joy FM’s Super Morning Show on Friday, 18th July, Col. Aboagye noted that galamsey has long been part of Ghana’s history, but was traditionally carried out with rudimentary tools such as hoes, shovels, and homemade implements.

According to him, during those earlier periods, the environmental impact was minimal.

He argued that the expanded menace began when the activity evolved to include the use of heavy-duty machinery such as bulldozers and excavators, which have wreaked havoc on the country’s forests, water bodies, and farmlands.

"I am saying that, before the white man came, we had been doing galamsey, but we have been doing it with pickaxe and shovels, headpan and buckets, the impact on the eco or the ecological system was minimal. The reason why galamsey has become a menace is because of the scale of the equipment that is being used," he stated.

While acknowledging the legitimate need for such equipment in construction and development, he called for stricter regulation of their importation to prevent their misuse in illegal mining operations.

"The strategy is to direct the main export of anti-galamsey operations against taking out certain equipment from the operation. If we can allow all the people, thirty million of us, into gold mining illegally, but we are doing it with cutlery, we are not going to impact the environment severely,"

"That strategy is missing; now, if we want to stop the heavy equipment, in my paper, I suggested that their importation into the country must be controlled so that the equipment is brought in for purposes either than galamsey," he said.

Col. Aboagye urged authorities to intensify oversight and enforcement measures, warning that without decisive action, the nation’s natural resources risk irreversible damage.