Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah
The Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah, has stated that since assuming office, he has not seen any of the drones secured by the Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo-led government to support the fight against illegal mining activities, commonly known as galamsey.
Addressing a gathering of management and staff of the Minerals Commission in Accra on Monday, April 7, 2025, he acknowledged the role of technology in tackling the galamsey menace.
“Technology is very critical in this work. And I think from here, I’m going to see some geo-fencing activities you guys have done here and see how we can even make it bigger and expand it. Yes, there were reports of drones and other things from the inter-ministerial committee.
“But I can tell you that it’s probably part of the things we are looking at. I have not seen the drones since I became a minister, and I don’t know exactly where they are,” he noted.
In 2017, then-Lands Minister John Peter Amewu received public backlash over the government’s decision to purchase drones worth $3 million.
He explained that the drones would help monitor and address illegal logging in the country’s forest reserves.
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