March 10, 2026

Dear President Mahama,

I am writing on behalf of Eco-Conscious Citizens and concerned Ghanaians regarding the state of our environment.

Following the conclusion of activities for Ghana’s 69th “independence” anniversary, I would like to draw your attention to two upcoming commemorations later this month and outline specific actions we seek.

1. We respectfully urge you to revoke Executive Instrument 144 (EI144), which was signed by your predecessor to declassify portions of the Achimota Forest Reserve – the lungs of Accra. There is no good reason for this decision, other than to enable private land acquisition. This does not help the poor air quality in Accra or the relentless heat. Revoking EI144 will go a little way to giving Accra the lungs it needs to breathe.

As President, you have the authority to revoke this unacceptable Executive Instrument, if you agree that Greater Accra requires increased, rather than reduced, forest cover. We also ask that the Atewa Forest Reserve is declared a National Park and protected from illegal mining. It is a habitat for endangered species and the source of water to over 5 million people. Three rivers – the Ayensu, Birim and Densu take their source from the Atewa Forest Reserve, and it is a critical globally significant biodiversity area.

3. While you might have had cause to highlight recent economic achievements during the “independence” commemorations, the environmental record offers few positives. As part of addressing this, we recommend providing adequate resources to the National Anti-Illegal Mining Operations Secretariat (NAIMOS) and the Forestry Commission to enable them to effectively discharge their mandate.

The Forestry Commission has requested para-military status, so that at the very least it can acquire bullet-proof vests, to reduce preventable deaths and injury from illegal loggers, and the recent death of a forest guard by an armed poacher.

To effectively halt the decimation of our forests and poisoning of our water bodies by environmental terrorists, NAIMOS needs enhanced budgetary, personnel, and logistical support.

Although some illegal miners escaped, four were arrested, including two armed persons. Gold-washing equipment was destroyed, and four excavators were seized on the farmland and moved to the NAIMOS base in Takoradi.

We believe that this successful operation will become a regular occurrence across the vast affected landscapes, if NAIMOS is adequately resourced.

It is of concern that NAIMOS’s efforts are sometimes allegedly hindered by “orders from above” which permit irresponsible activities to persist. We urge you to issue a directive stating that any person calling to demand that anti-illegal mining operations are stopped is named and investigated for complicity in illegal mining.

4. Water is life. Sadly, our water bodies are being contaminated by irresponsible miners discharging tailings into rivers and using changfans on rivers. We commend the Environmental Protection Authority’s recent seizure of imported changfans, but more needs to be done, as these prohibited machines continue to operate openly on our rivers. They are sold, repaired and manufactured in plain sight in illegal mining areas.

As Commander-In-Chief of the Armed Forces, we respectfully urge you to direct the Navy to conduct regular patrols on rivers to remove changfans and, in coordination with NAIMOS, arrest the operators.

6. We note that you positioned agribusiness as the cornerstone of Ghana’s economic transformation. Protecting our forests, water bodies and farmlands is essential, if production of the agricultural produce needed for agribusiness is to be sustained. During the recent onslaught on Sefwi Atronsu, farmers were in tears as their hard work was destroyed in minutes by excavators before NAIMOS arrived on the scene.