Why the minister cried: A nation’s silent tears for its dying forests and water bodies

Earlier this week, an image swept across social media: the Minister of Lands and Nat­ural Resources, visibly shaken and in tears during a live press conference. The scene was unprecedented, but rather than pause to reflect, much of the public responded with ridicule and mockery.

What many failed to see is that those tears were not a sign of weakness. They were an ex­pression of grief, a human reac­tion to a deeply troubling reality. The Minister had just received an investigative report detailing the full extent of environmental destruction caused by illegal mining activities across Ghana, particularly by groups such as Akonta Mining.

This wasn’t about political performance. It was about pain, the kind that should disturb us all.

The devastation

we’re ignoring

Illegal mining, commonly known as galamsey, has become a cancer eating into the heart of our country. And its effects go far beyond defaced landscapes. What the Minister saw and what made him cry were the shock­ing consequences of years of neglect, greed, and impunity.

Rivers turned to sludge

Once-crystal-clear rivers like the Pra, Ankobra, Offin, and Birim now run brown, choked with silt and toxins. Over 60 per cent of Ghana’s major rivers are now contaminated due to illegal mining, according to the Water Resources Commission.

Toxic health crisis

Mercury used in illegal gold extraction seeps into water bodies and accumulates in fish. Communities in Prestea, Tarkwa, and Obuasi are now reporting an increase in cases of kidney failure, neurological disorders, and even congenital deformities. A 2022 Ghana Health Service study confirms alarming mercury levels in the affected regions.

Forests under attack

According to the Forestry Commission, Ghana has lost over 5,000 hectares of forest cover due to illegal mining. Pro­tected areas like the Oda River Forest Reserve and the Kro­kosua Hills have been ravaged beyond recognition.

Water becoming a luxury

The Ghana Water Company spends over GH¢857 million annually to treat polluted water for consumption. In some areas, including Tarkwa, Kyebi, and Dunkwa-on-Offin, treat­ment has become unviable.

Destroyed livelihoods

Cocoa farmers are seeing their lands rendered infertile. Fisherfolk cannot work in mer­cury-laden rivers. Families are being displaced. And Ghana’s international image as an eco­tourism destination is fading.

A minister’s cry for the

soul of a nation

The Minister did not cry out of political desperation. He cried because he saw the soul of Ghana bleeding. His tears were for:

• The children who unknowingly drink poisoned water.

• The children who are born with defects, just be­cause their mothers consumed poisoned water while pregnant with them.

• The mothers who walk miles each day to fetch water from increasingly distant and unsafe sources.

• The farmers who wake up to see their crops replaced by lifeless, mercury-polluted craters.

• The farmers who buy packaged water to water their plants.

• The generations yet unborn, who may never know the beauty of Ghana’s rainfor­ests or the life-giving purity of its rivers.

This is not just the minister’s fight

While the government must intensify enforcement and poli­cy implementation, the respon­sibility is also ours.

• Chiefs who covertly grant illegal concessions.

• Citizens who remain silent or complicit.

• Buyers and exporters of illegally mined gold.

• Political actors who protect these destructive net­works.

• Law enforcement officers, in bed with miscreants who destroy our land and rivers.

• Financiers who import bandits into our nation to ‘pro­tect themselves from the law’.

All are part of this tragic and unfortunate maze, and until we change course, we all will bear the brunt of the devastation.

A national call to action

Instead of making light of a man showing real and raw emotions, let us reflect on what ignited those emotions.

Let this be the moment we finally say:

• No more pol­luted rivers.

• No more dead forests.

• No more short-term gains at the cost of our children’s future.

Because if a Minister cannot cry when the trees die, when should he? Will it be when the last tree falls? While he is wholeheartedly serving this cause to save the soul of our nation, we can only but em­pathise and wake up!

If we cannot feel pain for a dying Ghana, then perhaps it is not the Minister who has failed. It is us! Because this is not his fight, this is OUR fight, and everyone must get involved.

Let his tears not be in vain.