President John Dramani Mahama has allocated GHS 200 million in the 2027 national budget to fight illegal small-scale mining. The dedicated funds will directly finance the field operations of the National Anti-Illegal Mining Operations Secretariat and the Blue Water Guards. The state plans to use this public spending to protect water bodies from toxic chemicals and secure degraded forest reserves across mineral-rich districts.
The President revealed the funding decision during the 2026 Mining in Motion Forum in Accra. Unregulated mining, known locally as galamsey, has contaminated key river basins like the Pra and the Ankobra with heavy metals. Rising water treatment costs have placed heavy burdens on the public water utility, while cocoa farmers have lost thousands of fertile acres to illegal gold pits. The GHS 200 million capital injection will purchase surveillance equipment, finance river patrols, and support field officers guarding water intake points.
This public expenditure commitment aligns with Ghana’s broader effort to repair environmental destruction while sustaining economic growth from natural resources. Gold remains Ghana’s largest earner of export revenue and a crucial source of foreign exchange reserves. Unchecked destruction of arable land threatens the agricultural sector, which employs nearly 40 percent of the nation's workforce. To address this risk, the Ministry of Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation is pairing security enforcement with a national tree planting programme run alongside the REDD+ global forest protection initiative.
Speaking directly to industry delegates at the forum, President Mahama confirmed the exact monetary commitment from the central budget. "In the budget of 2027, 200 million Ghana cedis have been allocated for the activities of NAIMOS and the Blue Water Guards," he stated. He insisted that mineral exploitation must generate local employment without destroying the fundamental natural assets that sustain surrounding rural communities.
Policy makers and financial analysts will watch how the Ministry of Finance schedules this GHS 200 million commitment during the 2027 budget presentation in Parliament. Parliament must vote to approve the statutory funding before state agencies can access and disburse the money. Water utilities, farming communities, and licensed small-scale miners will monitor the deployment to assess whether dedicated state spending can permanently clean up rivers and restore degraded land.