The Ghanaian government will seize all gold traced to illegal mining operations and use the proceeds from its sale to rehabilitate degraded lands and water bodies, Senior Presidential Advisor Joyce Bawah Mogtari has announced.
Speaking in an interview with Woezor TV on Sunday, 20 April, Ms Bawah Mogtari explained that the Ghana Gold Board would oversee the seizure and sale of gold extracted through illegal mining, using a blockchain tracking system to prevent such gold from entering the formal market.
“If gold is acquired or mined illegally, there will be mechanisms to prevent it from entering the legal market,” she stated, highlighting the government’s efforts to clamp down on ‘galamsey’—the local term for illegal small-scale mining.

She said revenue generated from the sale of the confiscated gold would be directed towards environmental clean-up efforts, specifically targeting polluted rivers and damaged forest areas that have been severely impacted by unregulated mining activities.
“We face a serious challenge—pollution of our water bodies and destruction of our forests,” Ms Bawah Mogtari said. “I’m pleased to see that many young people are engaged in projects and innovations aimed at regenerating our forests and cleaning up our water systems.”
The Gold Board, according to her, will apply global tracking and certification standards similar to those used to combat the trade in conflict or “blood” diamonds.
“The global community took action against conflict diamonds by rejecting them in international markets. That measure helped sanitise the diamond trade. We’re adopting a similar approach to gold,” she noted.
Ghana, she said, exports approximately $5 billion worth of gold annually, a significant portion of which is suspected to originate from illegal sources that contribute little to the national economy or local communities.
“That’s the kind of export we want to stop. We don’t want gold that doesn’t benefit the country or its people,” she stressed.
Ms Bawah Mogtari added that the Gold Board had already made significant progress and was receiving broad support from legitimate stakeholders in Ghana’s mining industry.
“They’ve made some important strides. I’m optimistic about how it will turn out. Since key industry players are on board, I believe we should all give it a chance,” she said.