Around him, shirtless men, their bodies smeared with dirt and glistening with sweat, worked tirelessly under the blazing sun, near Ghana’s capital Accra.
Some shovelled sand into makeshift washing troughs. Others operated excavators roaring through the degraded landscape, a stark reminder of the environmental cost of the country’s boom in illegal mining.
Known locally as “galamsey”, illegal mining and its ecological and economic impacts have been a flashpoint ahead of Saturday’s election, when voters will choose the successor to President Nana Akufo-Addo.
Ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) candidate Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia is vying against opposition candidate and former president John Mahama of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) party in what looks like a tight race.
“For 16 years, this is what I’ve done to survive,” Frank told AFP, asking for his real name not to be used.
“We know our activities harm the land and pollute the rivers, but what choice do we have? There are no jobs.”
Driven by unemployment and poverty, miners risk their lives for survival, earning a weekly income of around $180 that rivals a teacher’s monthly salary.
But their activities come at a cost — degraded farmlands, polluted water bodies, shrinking forests and damage to Ghana’s cocoa crops, a major source of export revenue.
Ghana, the world’s sixth-largest gold exporter and second-largest cocoa producer, is grappling with the damaging effects of galamsey as the country goes to the ballot box.
Once-thriving cocoa farms in regions like Western and Ashanti have been decimated, with over 19,000 hectares (47,000 acres) lost to mining.
Rivers poisoned by mercury and cyanide runoff from mining operations are now threatening drinking water supplies for millions of Ghanaians, according to the utility provider Ghana Water Company Limited.
In the town of Osino, a three-hour drive from Accra, vast areas of fertile land have been stripped bare and their topsoil washed away.
“The government needs to support us to mine responsibly,” Frank said.
“Instead of sending soldiers to destroy our equipment, they should create decent jobs for us. We don’t want to turn to crime to survive.”
His frustrations echo sentiments among miners who feel targeted by government crackdowns but ignored in national planning.
Akufo-Addo and his NPP promised in 2017 to end galamsey.
Yet the practice has grown, fuelled by rising gold prices and youth unemployment.
Demonstrations have intensified in recent months, with hashtags like #stopgalamseynow trending among Ghana’s youth and diaspora.
Protesters have called for immediate action to halt the environmental damage, but scepticism lingers over political promises.
