BY Daniel Bampoe
Member of Parliament for Abuakwa South Constituency in the Eastern Region, Dr. Kingsley Agyemang, has urged Ghanaians to treat the fight against illegal mining, widely known as galamsey, with the urgency and coordination of a wartime operation.
His call comes in the wake of the August 6, 2025 helicopter crash that killed eight people, including two cabinet ministers, while they were reportedly on a mission connected to the anti-galamsey campaign in Obuasi.
Among the dead were Defence Minister Dr. Edward Omane Boamah, Environment Minister Ibrahim Murtala Muhammed, Acting Deputy National Security Coordinator Alhaji Mohammed Muniru Limuna, NDC Vice-Chair Samuel Sarpong, former Obuasi East parliamentary candidate Samuel Aboagye, Squadron Leader Peter Baafemi Anala, Flying Officer Manaen Twum-Ampadu, and Sergeant Ernest Addo Mensah.
The victims were aboard a Ghana Armed Forces Z-9 helicopter en route to Obuasi when it crashed under unknown circumstances.
Dr. Agyemang, a schoolmate of Dr. Omane Boamah at Pope John Senior High School, said the incident should not be remembered solely through tributes and mourning, but should instead be the catalyst for an unrelenting national offensive against illegal mining.
“If these gallant men were on their way to confront the scourge of illegal mining, then the fight against galamsey must now assume the same urgency with which we respond to war,” he stressed.
He cautioned that national grief must translate into concrete action.
“We owe them more than words of praise; we owe them commitment and action,” he said, adding that the tragedy underscores the daily, often unseen, risks public servants bear in the line of duty.
Illegal mining remains one of the most persistent environmental crises, devastating farmlands, polluting major rivers, and threatening the country’s long-term ecological balance.
Over the past decade, successive governments have launched military-led operations, community sensitisation programmes, and regulatory crackdowns, but with limited lasting impact.
The deaths of two top ministers directly involved in the anti-galamsey agenda now cast a renewed spotlight on the urgency of the fight.
During the parliamentary recess, Dr. Kingsley Agyemang has also been working hands-on in his constituency, tending to community farms to promote food security and sustainable land use.
This, he says, is part of a broader philosophy that environmental preservation and development must go hand in hand.
