Abednego Orstin Rawlings, President of the United States Africa Command, Ghana (AFRICOM), has put forward a solution to combat illegal mining, known as galamsey, by advocating for the use of seized excavators to rehabilitate mining pits rather than destroying them.
Rawlings suggested that the government direct the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources to repurpose the excavators used by illegal miners to fill in the pits they have dug.
According to him, these mining machines, which are often obtained at a high cost, should be used to restore the land.
“The soil extracted by the galamsey operators typically doesn’t contain gold deeper down, so covering the pits with the same soil would prevent further mining and render it difficult for them to resume operations,” Rawlings explained.
The AFRICOM President proposed that by filling the pits with soil and planting edible trees, the land could be repurposed for agriculture, benefiting local communities.
He emphasized that if the pits were restored quickly, the miners would likely lose the incentive to return, given the difficulty of reopening them. “The longer the land remains restored and cultivated, the less likely they are to return,” he stated.
Rawlings believes this method could yield up to an 85% success rate in reducing illegal mining activities.
He also recommended deploying helicopters to monitor sensitive areas like water bodies and forests, ensuring that security personnel can efficiently respond to illegal mining operations.
Additionally, Rawlings suggested involving prisoners in the restoration efforts by having them plant trees in the rehabilitated areas. This would not only help restore the land but also provide a productive use for the incarcerated individuals.
He strongly opposed the practice of burning excavators, as he believes it is counterproductive and only worsens the situation.
Finally, Rawlings addressed the issue of galamsey miners tampering with excavators by disabling their control systems.
He stated that recovering and repairing these machines would not be difficult, and once fixed, they could be put to constructive use for environmental restoration or legitimate purposes.