A-Rocha Ghana says Ghana’s fight against illegal mining, popularly known as galamsey, has lost momentum despite the strong public resolve that followed last year’s August 6 helicopter crash.

The environmental group says the country has instead reached a point where it is “completely losing leadership” in the fight.

Speaking on Joy News’ PM Express on Wednesday, Deputy National Director of A-Rocha Ghana, Daryl Bosu, said expectations were high after the incident, which claimed the lives of eight people, including senior government and military officials.

He said the tragedy created an opportunity for the country to intensify its efforts to tackle illegal mining and its environmental impact.

According to Mr Bosu, there was initially a strong national momentum behind the campaign.

“We started well, and then when the incident happened, we all kind of like got all this sudden momentum, built this sudden momentum. Everybody was rallying behind the goal, and then somehow we lost track.”

He said authorities and stakeholders eventually “took our eyes off the ball,” allowing the situation to deteriorate.

“We took our eyes off the ball, and everything went back towards the wall, if not worse.”

Mr Bosu said the current situation is particularly worrying because environmental campaigners had hoped to at least establish a baseline for the fight against illegal mining.

“I was following your statistics, your data, and I would say that I have even some more to fill in because, as you said, I mean, it’s really gotten that bad to the extent that we thought we had a baseline.”

He said the expectation was that the country would maintain the gains made after the renewed push against galamsey, while reducing the risks posed by illegal mining.

“We’re going to maintain it then, if not even anything at all, reduce the risks, but gain some ground in terms of the campaign.”

However, Mr Bosu said his recent observations on the ground had deepened his concerns.

“But I mean, the way we said, and from being on the ground just last week and seeing what is happening, I had no choice but to say we are at a point of hopelessness.”

Asked whether Ghana is worse off a year after the renewed national push against galamsey, Mr Bosu gave a direct response. “Yes!”

He said the country’s failure to sustain the momentum generated after the August 6 tragedy raises serious concerns about the direction of the fight against illegal mining.