The Africa Centre for Security and Counterterrorism (ACSC) has identified illegal mining, popularly known as galamsey, as Ghana’s most severe national security threat.

In a press release assessing President John Dramani Mahama’s first year in office, the Centre warned that the impact of illegal mining now extends beyond environmental degradation to pose a serious threat to national water security.

The assessment highlights persistent failures in tackling galamsey, despite repeated enforcement efforts by state authorities.

According to the ACSC, major rivers including the Pra, Offin, Birim, Ankobra and Tano have been contaminated with heavy metals beyond World Health Organisation (WHO) safety limits. It added that cocoa-growing lands are being destroyed, threatening Ghana’s status as the world’s second-largest cocoa producer.

The Centre further noted that children in mining communities face mercury-related neurological damage, while protected forest reserves continue to be devastated.

The ACSC described state enforcement as systemically inadequate, citing repeated raids that are quickly followed by renewed illegal operations, low-level arrests without the prosecution of financiers and sponsors, and equipment seizures that fail to prevent re-equipping.

“The scale of galamsey operations points to systemic corruption. Heavy excavators costing over $200,000 cannot reach remote sites without customs clearance, checkpoints, and the complicity of rangers,” the report stated.

The assessment also drew attention to the continued availability of banned mercury and the presence of thousands of foreign nationals in illegal mining areas, which it said reflects weak border and immigration enforcement.

“The administration addresses the symptoms of illegal mining while leaving intact the systems that enable it,” the Centre added.