My hands tremble as I pen this. I do not know where to begin, nor how to summon the strength to recount this sorrow. But I must. Ghana must remember. We must mourn, and we must act.

The cost of disobedience has never been so steep. Our refusal to uphold the law, to protect what is ours, has brought us to the edge of a dark abyss.

And now, it has taken from us eight brave souls, patriots who laid down their lives in a noble quest to rid our land of the poisonous scourge that is illegal mining.

Galamsey. A word that has become a curse in our collective conscience. Over the years, this menace has devoured our verdant forests, choked our rivers with filth, and poisoned our children with the silent death of mercury and cyanide.

The consequences have been dire, but the defiance has been louder. We were warned. We were urged. We were pleaded with. Yet, we turned a deaf ear. Laws were passed. The military was deployed. Still, many chose destruction over discipline.

And now, Ghana bleeds

Eight heroes, on a mission to launch the Responsible Cooperative Mining and Skills Development Programme (rCOMSDEP), perished in the Ashanti Region near Obuasi—an area long tormented by the very plague they sought to end.

rCOMSDEP is a broader effort by the government to encourage Ghanaians to consider responsible mining over galamsey.

Among the fallen are no ordinary citizens. Our Defence Minister, Dr Edward Omane Boamah. The Minister for Environment, Science and Technology, Murtala Mohammed. These were men entrusted with the very soul of our nation’s survival.

Muniru Mohammed, Acting Deputy National Security Coordinator.
Samuel Aboagye, former Member of Parliament.
Samuel Sarpong, Vice Chairman of the National Democratic Congress.
And the crew—those fearless in the skies: Squadron Leader Peter Bafemi Anala, Flying Officer Mane-Twum Ampadu, and Sergeant Ernest Addo Mensah.

The Chief of Staff, Julius Debrah, delivered the heartbreaking news at a sombre press conference, his voice barely concealing the weight of a nation in mourning. He declared that all national flags be flown at half-mast, a symbol of our shared grief, a country shrouded in black.

But symbols are not enough

To those who fund, protect, and profit from galamsey—do you sleep well at night? Can your conscience bear the weight of this blood? Your gold is not clean. It is tainted with the price of human sacrifice. The earth may have given it to you, but it is stained with the tears of widows and the cries of children left behind.

This tragedy must not be in vain

Let this be the final turning point. Let this mark the beginning of a new era—a nation that rises with resolve to end galamsey once and for all. We must legislate with boldness, act with urgency, and crush this threat with unwavering resolve. There can be no mercy for those who destroy our land and rob our future.

To the politicians who turn a blind eye, and the traditional leaders who harbour these destroyers—how many more must die before you say, enough? Woe unto you if you remain complicit. History is watching.

The eight gallant men did not die in vain. Their sacrifice must awaken us from our apathy. Ghana must rise, united in grief, defiant in purpose.

Stop galamsey. Now. Forever.

The writer of this article, Albert Kuzor is a JoyNews journalist.