The Ghana Journalists Association (GJA) is preparing to deploy a team of experienced journalists across the country to independently assess the impact of illegal mining and determine how much progress has been made in tackling the galamsey menace.

The field exercise will take place after a week-long dialogue and symposium on illegal mining and will focus on communities and locations directly affected by the activities. The journalists are expected to visit mining sites, examine degraded lands and assess the condition of rivers and other water bodies.

The team will also interact with a wide range of stakeholders, including miners, farmers, traditional authorities, regulators and residents, to gather evidence on the effects of illegal mining and the measures being implemented to address the problem.

President of the GJA, Albert Kwabena Dwumfour, announced the initiative at the 2026 National Mining Dialogue on Tuesday, August 18. He said the exercise would be conducted independently of government and would be guided by the facts gathered during the field visits.

“This exercise will be independent of government,” he said, adding that the GJA would “go there to find the truth” and publish its findings regardless of whether they were favourable to the government or the opposition.

“We will report what we find. If there has been progress, we will say so. If there are gaps, we will identify them. If there have been failures, we will report them,” he said.

Mr Dwumfour said the initiative was intended to provide an impartial assessment of the galamsey crisis and contribute to efforts to address its environmental and socio-economic consequences.

He also called for greater attention to the wider network supporting illegal mining, including financiers, equipment suppliers and gold buyers.

He urged law enforcement authorities to trace the financial and supply chains behind illegal mining rather than focusing solely on miners working at the bottom of the operation.

“The law must apply equally,” he stressed, advocating a “follow the chain” and “follow the money” approach to identify and hold accountable those who finance and benefit from illegal mining.