Deputy Director of A Rocha Ghana, Daryl Bosu, has called for the urgent use of intelligence services to target financiers and organisers behind illegal mining, saying that current enforcement efforts are focusing on the wrong people.

Speaking on Joy FM’s Super Morning Show on Wednesday, April 29, he said authorities are largely arresting local miners while those who fund and drive the operations remain untouched.

“I think we are choosing to shoot the wrong people,” he said.

Mr Bosu explained that many of those arrested in mining communities are often victims of circumstances, while the real organisers continue to operate freely.

"What I have observed in most areas, and the people will tell you andthe police and sometimes the officers will tell you that if I arrest some of these community people in the field and they take them to the police station, the financier will show up to already provide, try to beg and all of that, if it doesn't work, he goes and employs new people."

"But we have taken those people whom I see as victims, kept them on remand, and the person who came to say these are my workers, we let those people get away with it. So I think that we are choosing to shoot the wrong people," he added.

He said that this approach is weakening the fight against galamsey and pointed to gaps in enforcement at higher levels.

“As long as we don’t address the issue of people selling equipment… and dealing with the illicit gold market from the top to the bottom… there’s no enforcement at the top,” he said.

Mr Bosu said that economic hardship is also pushing some community members into illegal mining.

“If you are sitting in the community, your lands are destroyed, your rivers are destroyed… you have no option than to buy water… you’ll be forced to get into the same activities,” he said.

He called for intelligence-led operations to identify and prosecute those behind the networks.

“This is where I believe that we need to let our intelligence services strongly inform the decision,” he said.

He referenced existing laws, particularly the Minerals and Mining Act, which allows for the prosecution of those who facilitate illegal mining.

“Act 995 was very, very clear. People who are found to be facilitating galamsey are also liable to summary conviction,” he stated.

However, he questioned why these provisions are not being fully applied.

“Somehow, we have refused to make use of this particular legal provision… to get to the financiers and… the people at the helm of the leadership,” he said.

Mr Bosu said effective enforcement would require tracking financial flows and supply chains linked to illegal mining.

“That empowers the state to use every avenue, particularly to understand financial transactions, trace equipment, and trace the money, to get to the financiers and get to the people at the helm of the leadership who are driving illegal mining," he explained.

"I don't know why this has become a challenge for the government,” he added.

He urged the government to act decisively and without political interference.

“If they really are serious about it, they will activate the intelligence services without fear or favour and deal with it,” he said.

He also revealed concerns raised by intelligence officers on the ground.

“I spoke to somebody who works with the Bureau of National Intelligence… he said, ‘we know every kingpin in this community… but they will not allow us to go after them,’” Mr Bosu disclosed.