Dr Ken Ashigbey is the CEO of the Ghana Chamber of Mines

The CEO of the Ghana Chamber of Mines, Dr Ken Ashigbey, has responded to recent controversial remarks made by the Chinese Ambassador to Ghana, HE Tong Defa, regarding the illegal mining menace in the country.

According to a myjoyonline.com report on June 21, 2025, Ashigbey’s reaction follows, the Ambassador’s suggestion that Ghanaians are primarily to blame for facilitating illegal mining not Chinese, stressing that the practice might be impossible to eliminate.

He sought to dissociate Chinese nationals from leading the menace that is fast depleting forest reserves and water bodies across the country.

However, Dr Ashigbey, a strong anti-galamsey advocate, has emphasised the need for accountability and collective action, cautioning against absolving foreign enablers in an interview on Joy FM on Friday, June 20.

“He [Chinese Ambassador] cannot run away from the fact that there are some Chinese individuals who are part of the illegality that is happening. Meanwhile, they would not even dare think about some of the things that you know they are doing in Ghana in China. So, there's a role that he [Chinese Ambassador] has to play as we [Ghanaians] also have to play,” he stated.

“Let me disappoint him. His Excellency, the President, the Minister for Lands and Natural resources and the IGP are bent on definitely winning the war against illegal mining and irresponsible mining, in which some of his kinsmen are sometimes complicit and involved; you will find out that if you look at the Operation Vangard data from all those days, the majority of the foreigners who are arrested are Chinese people,” he added.

China’s Ambassador to Ghana, Tong Defa, speaking at a media interaction in Accra on Thursday, June 19, argued that Chinese nationals involved in illegal mining are often migrant workers brought in by Ghanaians.

According to him he doesn’t understand why people equate ‘galamsey’ to Chinese nationals.

“Actually, it is not Chinese. It didn’t originate from China. Chinese nationals cannot obtain licences or get permits. It is the Ghanaian people who throw the Chinese people over here,” he said.

"To my understanding, in this country, you can never eliminate those small mines. Those mines, you will have illegalities involved in them," he asserted suggesting that policy efforts should focus on managing environmental pollution rather than outright eradication.

VPO/EB

After the heavy rains, a lot of debris have been left across many parts of Accra. Watch some of the destructions below: