Illegal gold mining poses heightened national security risk, expert warns

Renowned security expert Professor Kwesi Anin has raised serious concerns about the escalating national security risks posed by illegal artisanal small-scale gold mining (ASGM) in Ghana.

During a forum organised by organized by the UK-Ghana Gold Programme and the Civil Society Organisations Alliance in Aburi, Prof. Anin warned that illegal mining has become an existential threat to the nation, driven by unchecked greed for resources that has led to the widespread destruction of critical water bodies.

Prof. Anin highlighted that while Ghana is not at war, the environmental devastation caused by illegal mining mirrors the strategic destruction of resources typically seen in wartime. He emphasized that this environmental damage compromises the country’s long-term survival, calling for a decisive approach to curbing illegal mining activities.

The security expert also pointed out that illegal mining is intertwined with other illicit activities, including narcotics trafficking and organized crime. He noted that these criminal networks exploit the gold trade to bolster their operations, further undermining national and regional security. The illicit export of cattle, linked to the gold trade, has also been flagged as a growing concern, particularly with recent developments in neighboring countries like Mali.

The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) has identified Ghana as a high-risk country for conflict minerals, adding to the urgency of addressing the illegal mining issue. Prof. Anin warned that if not addressed, Ghana’s gold trade could face the same fate as its diamond industry, which collapsed in the 1980s and 1990s due to similar concerns.

Beyond the environmental and criminal implications, Prof. Anin also pointed to the involvement of child labour and other human rights abuses within the illegal mining sector. He stressed that the state’s weakness, corruption, and the criminalization of the mining industry have allowed these activities to thrive with little risk of arrest or prosecution.

The expert’s analysis raises critical questions about the effectiveness of Ghana’s security and intelligence agencies in combating these threats. He urged for stronger enforcement of the rule of law and more robust efforts to dismantle the criminal networks that have infiltrated the country’s mining industry, warning that failure to act could have severe consequences for both national and regional stability.