Afenyo-Markin Warns GoldBod Structure Is Fueling Illegal Mining Threat to Atewa Forest

​Minority Leader Alexander Afenyo-Markin has warned that Ghana faces an unprecedented threat to its vital natural ecosystems, including the renowned Atewa Forest reserve and major water bodies, due to the escalating menace of illegal mining. Addressing members of the Christian Council during a recent consultative engagement, the lawmaker expressed deep concern over the rapid environmental degradation sweeping across mining communities and called for urgent, non-partisan action to safeguard the nation’s natural heritage.

​Central to his critique was the state-backed gold marketing institution, GoldBod, which Afenyo-Markin argued is inadvertently compounding the illegal mining crisis rather than curbing it. He asserted that the operational framework and purchasing practices of GoldBod have created an environment that encourages illicit mining activities. By providing a ready market without sufficiently stringent traceability protocols, he argued, the entity enables illegal operators to monetize their yields with ease.

​The Minority Leader stressed that the systemic flaws within GoldBod's current structure undermine broader national efforts to clamp down on galamsey. Instead of acting as a regulatory shield that promotes responsible and sustainable mining, the institution's setup, according to Afenyo-Markin, provides financial incentive and cover for illegal operators to expand their reach deeper into protected ecological zones and critical river basins.

​Concluding his address to the religious leaders, Afenyo-Markin urged faith-based organizations and civil society to intensify their advocacy against the institutional loopholes exacerbating environmental destruction. He called on the government to urgently restructure GoldBod’s operational mandate to ensure strict compliance, legal traceability, and active protection of Ghana’s forest reserves and water resources before irreversible damage is done.

@Volta Today