In Ghana, the illegal gold mining phenomenon, known locally as “galamsey,” has reached catastrophic levels, causing severe environmental damage, particularly to rivers and farmland.
Pollution in the Pra River, 200km west of Accra, has become so extreme that artist Israel Derrick Apeti, also known as Enil Art, was able to use the river’s thick, discolored water as paint for his artworks to depict the devastation.
Apeti explained his decision to use polluted water in an interview: “It just came to me… I tried it, and it worked.” Communities along the river, once teeming with fish and wildlife, lamented the transformation of clear water into a toxic yellowish-brown flow.
The illegal mining process, often aided by foreign interests, relies heavily on mercury and other chemicals to extract gold. This pollution degrades land and renders rivers undrinkable, with long-term environmental risks such as mercury poisoning. Dr. George Manful, a former Environmental Protection Agency official, warned that mercury contamination could persist for centuries, entering the food chain through fish and crops.
The water utility has cautioned that, if unaddressed, Ghana could be forced to import water by 2030. “We are slowly poisoning ourselves,” Dr. Manful stressed.
