When a convoy of reporters shadowing an Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) team near Obuasi was rammed during an anti-galamsey sweep, several were left hospitalised—one transferred to Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH)—after a day that reportedly began with an assault by illegal miners.

The Lands Ministry says two journalists who were initially in critical condition have stabilised. The sector minister has ordered “the best care” at KATH. The episode is another grim marker of how violent—and organised—the fight over Ghana’s rivers and forest reserves has become.

It follows a national trauma still fresh in memory: the August 6th helicopter crash that killed eight officials en route to Obuasi for an operation linked to galamsey. Calls to ensure their sacrifice “is not in vain” have grown louder since.

We should not have waited this long. Ghana has endured a succession of anti-galamsey operations that have failed to achieve lasting control or efficiency. Attacks on agencies, personnel, and journalists engaged in environmental protection are not new.

Beyond corruption, such violent resistance has been one of the most significant causes of institutional weakness in enforcing mining regulations and safeguarding our environment.

It is time to declare a State of Emergency. Mobilising civil society and traditional authorities is important, but it cannot substitute for decisive national action when there is a clear, present, and immediate threat to the health, safety, and future of our people. To delay is to put the cart before the horse.

We are grateful that no lives have yet been reported lost by gunshot or battery, and we pray that it does not come to that. However, if vulnerable personnel continue to be deployed against armed, desperate, and well-financed illegal mining networks, tragedy is inevitable.

We honour the memory of the 8 martyrs who have already sacrificed their lives in the fight against galamsey. May their service not be in vain, and may their example strengthen our resolve to act with courage and unity.

DeclareStateOfEmergencyAgainstGalamseyNow

The writer is a lecturer at the Department of Food and Nutrition Education, Faculty of Health, Allied Sciences and Home Economics Education, University of Education Winneba