The Director of Communications for the Association of Small-Scale Miners, Abdul Razak Alhassan, has issued a warning to members of the association involved in illegal mining, commonly known as galamsey, urging them to stop.

According to him, the association is prepared to expose and take action against members engaging in such activities as part of their efforts to distance themselves from this destructive practice and support the fight against galamsey.

"This time, it is a collaborative effort, and we have assurances from the security agencies. Now that we have that authority, we’ve sent a signal - if you are a legal small-scale miner and you are polluting water bodies, we are coming after you. We will arrest our own members if they refuse to change," he said in an interview on JoyNews' The Pulse.

Read also: Akufo-Addo reaffairms commitment to end galamsey

This statement follows President Akufo-Addo’s directive to the Minister for Defence to deploy additional military forces to bolster "Operation Halt," an ongoing initiative aimed at curbing illegal mining.

The President’s directive also called for collaboration between the small-scale miners' associations and the government to address the issue.

This directive is in response to mounting pressure from over civil society organizations, calling on the government to tackle the environmental devastation caused by galamsey, which has seriously affected the country's water bodies, farmlands, and forest reserves.

Mr Alhassan expressed support for the President’s directive, noting that the association has long called for such action to clean up the sector.

He clarified that those engaging in illegal mining on water bodies are not recognized as small-scale miners and are not authorized to operate on river bodies.

Meanwhile, over 100 armed military personnel have been deployed to various water bodies as part of a renewed effort to clamp down on illegal mining.