Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah

"Galamseyers must be seen as dangerous terrorists," Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah said in April 2025, soon after President John Mahama made him Minister for Lands and Natural Resources. By July 2026 he was telling the Government Accountability Series that illegal miners had at one point controlled all of Ghana's forest reserves.

Politics

Armah-Kofi Buah is the National Democratic Congress MP for Ellembelle in the Western Region, a seat he has held since 2009. Under President Mahama's first government he worked in the energy sector and served as Minister of Petroleum. In opposition he remained a senior NDC voice on oil and gas.

Lands and Natural Resources

As minister since 2025 he has led the government's response to illegal mining, or galamsey. In January 2026 he announced that Cabinet had approved a review of all public lands sold or allocated in the past, with any deal that did not follow due process or give value for money to be cancelled. In March 2026 he visited the Yagbonwura, the Gonja overlord, at Damongo to seek support for the anti-galamsey drive. At the accountability briefing on 15 July 2026 he admitted the fight was hard but said the government would not retreat, reporting 258 arrests over six months in joint operations with the Forestry Commission.