The announcement was made by Smart Osei-Bonsu, the head of the Ghana Immigration Service in the Ashanti Region. He made the announcement when the new regional minister, Simon Osei-Mensah and his deputy Elizabeth Agyemang went on a tour of security installations in the region.

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Chief Superintendent of Immigration Osei-Bonsu also announced that the service was also in the process of deporting 13 foreign nationals involved in galamsey, the Ghana News Agency reports.

Within the last year, Ghana’s media has led a strong campaign for the protection of the environment by dedicating precious airtime and space to covering the destruction being caused by illegal mining in the country, commonly known as galamsey.

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Galamsey has led to the pollution of water bodies, destruction of trees, a slump in agriculture production, an increase in health problems and served as a lure to young people to abandon the classroom for illegal mines, where risk of mine pits collapsing is always present.

The unabated attention on galamsey by the media, supported by civil society groups, has forced the hand of government to announce tough measures to curb the situation including an ultimatum for galamsey to cease, which has largely been respected by the miners, and a freeze on the issuance of small scale mining licences.