The Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Chamber of Mines, Dr Kenneth Ashigbey, has expressed disappointment over what he describes as the slow pace of Ghana’s fight against illegal mining, popularly known as galamsey, a year after the military helicopter crash that claimed the lives of eight people.

The Ghana Armed Forces helicopter crashed on August 6, 2025, while transporting government officials and military personnel on an official assignment, prompting renewed calls for a tougher crackdown on illegal mining across the country.

Following the tragedy, government announced a series of measures aimed at intensifying the fight against galamsey, including efforts to dismantle illegal mining networks, prosecute financiers and kingpins, and protect the country’s forests and water bodies.

Despite those commitments, concerns have persisted over the pace of enforcement, with environmental advocates continuing to raise alarm over the condition of major rivers and the limited number of successful prosecutions involving alleged illegal mining kingpins.

Speaking on Citi FM on Thursday, August 6, to mark the first anniversary of the crash, Dr Ashigbey said Ghana had not done enough to honour the memory of the victims through decisive action against illegal mining.

“If you look at our fight against galamsey, we can’t say that we have honoured these eight people as well as we ought to. I remember I said in an interview that the incident was going to result in a situation where there was going to be a drastic change in the galamsey fight, and the Minister for Foreign Affairs said that they had had a Cabinet meeting and that the president was going to come up with a renewed way of fighting it.

“But unfortunately, it is interesting that there is only one galamsey kingpin that has been successfully prosecuted and convicted, and we don’t see others being prosecuted, yet the turbidity of our waters is still where they are, and so I think that we have not honoured these eight people enough.”