China’s Ambassador to Ghana, H.E. Tong Defa, has sparked fierce national outrage with bold claims that illegal mining—galamsey—can never be eradicated in Ghana d that Ghanaians themselves, not Chinese nationals, are the true architects of the deepening crisis.
Speaking during a media interaction at his Accra residence on Thursday, the ambassador stated flatly:
“In this country, you can never eliminate those small mines. Those mines have illegalities involved in them. We need to find ways to solve this problem.”
He called on the Ghanaian government to shift its focus from eradication to managing pollution caused by galamsey, especially the destruction of water bodies and forests.
Ambassador Defa categorically rejected the narrative that blames Chinese nationals for the illegal mining scourge.
“It is not the Chinese. Galamsey didn’t originate from China. Chinese nationals cannot even obtain permits. It is the Ghanaian people who bring the Chinese here,” he said.
According to him, many of the Chinese arrested are migrant labourers, hired and trafficked into Ghana by locals seeking to cash in on the lucrative but illegal gold mining trade.
“I have social media, and anytime I post, people tag me with galamsey. It is unfair—to me and to the majority of Chinese,” he added emotionally.
The ambassador’s remarks come at a time when public anger is boiling over the destruction of Ghana’s rivers, farmlands, and forests due to illegal mining. Advocacy groups like the Ghana Coalition Against Illegal Mining have demanded a crackdown not just on illegal miners ut also on foreign financiers and political enablers.
In a move some critics see as deflection, Ambassador Defa reminded Ghanaians of China’s role in national development.
“Your roads, your ports, a lot of your infrastructure—Chinese companies built them. Do ordinary Ghanaians know that?”
But this argument has done little to douse the fire. Many civil society leaders and commentators have condemned the remarks as insensitive, accusing the ambassador of deflecting responsibility while downplaying the real damage caused by foreign involvement in galamsey.
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