The national co-ordinator of the Ghana Boundary Commission, Major General Emmanuel Kotia, has announced that Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire have joined forces to fight illegal mining along river boundaries between the two countries.
The two West African governments have been running a joint technical commission (JTC) since August this year to ensure that their shared land and maritime boundaries will be reaffirmed, signposted and respected.
Speaking to journalists at a two-day meeting of the JTC in Accra, Major General Kotia said: “The boundary commissions have realised that we have some river bodies that serve as common boundaries between Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire.
“There has been a lot of illegal mining along those rivers, so we want to also facilitate our security agencies from both sides to intervene [and stop] this illegal mining that is going on.”
Task force at mining sites
Speaking at the meeting, the deputy lands and natural resources minister, Benito Owusu-Bio, said that his ministry will set up a task force to monitor illegal mining on Ghana’s water bodies. He said the government has trained men with the tools necessary to carry out their mandate.
“As we speak now, river guards have been trained, the government has procured speedboats and soon they are going to start operations and monitoring of the river bodies.
“We are making sure we will be able to address the issue of illegal mining, especially on the river bodies,” he said.
The executive secretary of the Côte d’Ivoire Boundary Commission, Diakalidia Konaté, said his office will continue to collaborate with its Ghanaian counterpart to raise awareness of the impact of illegal mining.
“One of the major things we will be focusing on is illegal mining,” Konaté said.
“Our commission and that of Ghana will be working together to organise sensitisation programmes for communities along the boundaries for them to be aware that these activities they are engaging in can affect their lives.”
Andy Sepah
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