The Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources has given the deployed Blue Water River Guards an impressive 9 out of 10 performance rating, affirming that their efforts to curb illegal mining have been “very successful.”
Speaking exclusively to ABC News GH on Monday, June 23, Media Relations Officer Paa Kwesi Schandorf said the ministry’s monitoring reports show the guards excelling in their mandate.
“Based on the feedback we have, it wouldn’t be out of place to say that they are doing a 9 out of 10,” he stated, dismissing public ridicule of the initiative.
Deployed to over a dozen galamsey-prone districts, more than 400 recruits—drawn from affected communities and trained under the Ghana Navy’s Riverine Command—have been patrolling water bodies since early June.
Schandorf highlighted that rigorous four-week training at the Ezinlibo Forward Base equipped the guards with swimming, surveillance, and environmental protection skills.
He added that ongoing plans aim to expand the force to 2,000 river guards nationwide by year’s end, under the Blue Water Initiative.
Schandorf urged Ghanaians to support the fledgling corps. “Their monitoring and evaluation so far has been very successful. There is no need to ridicule them; we should believe in them,” he said.
The Ministry maintains that continued community backing and adequate resourcing are critical to safeguarding Ghana’s rivers and forest reserves from further degradation.
