Writer: Daniel Benin || Investigative Journalist OHIM TV
Once again, the Ghanaian media has found an easy scapegoat for a national crisis—blame the Chinese.
In a recent opinion article by Samuel Kwame Boadu titled “China’s Gold But Ghana Bleeding,” the writer sensationally warns that Ghana may soon “go to Beijing for clean water” due to illegal gold mining activities—activities which he claims are being fueled primarily by Chinese nationals.
This type of one-sided narrative is not only misleading, but it is also intellectually lazy lacking even common sense.
Why Only the Chinese?
Let’s ask the critical question: Why are Chinese nationals consistently singled out in illegal mining discourse when it is widely known that illegal mining (galamsey) in Ghana involves multiple actors—Ghanaians, other foreign nationals, and even politically connected elites?
Why does Mr. Boadu not mention Lebanese, Indians, South Africans, or even Americans who are also engaged in Ghana’s extractive sectors?
We must remind ourselves that Chinese nationals do not come into Ghana and start mining on their own accord.
They are invited, aided, and in some cases, protected by Ghanaians themselves—including chiefs, landowners, and yes, politicians.
Many of these illegal mining operations are joint ventures between Chinese and Ghanaian collaborators.
Yet, the Chinese are the ones paraded before cameras, vilified in headlines, and made to bear the burden of our collective failure to regulate the sector.
Misplaced Outrage and Selective Amnesia
Mr. Boadu claims Ghana may one day “import clean water from China.” What a dramatic exaggeration. If we reach a point where clean water is unavailable to our citizens, it won’t be because of Chinese miners alone—it will be because of decades of governmental neglect, corruption, and weak enforcement.
Let’s talk about the Ghana Water Company, the Environmental Protection Agency, the Minerals Commission, and the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources.
These are Ghanaian-led institutions that have all failed to take decisive action, enforce the law, and reclaim polluted water bodies. Why is your anger not directed at them, Mr. Boadu?
The Real Agenda
This article, like many others, reeks of a deeper agenda: the attempt to mask our own leadership failures by projecting blame onto foreign nationals. And unfortunately, the Chinese, due to their visibility and number in the small-scale mining sector, have become convenient targets.
It is hypocritical for Ghanaians to accept Chinese technology, infrastructure, and investment on one hand, and demonize them on the other.
Ghana enjoys roads, hospitals, and telecommunications infrastructure built by the Chinese and yet we turn around and accuse the same Chinese of exploitation.
Are we now saying we want their money, but not their people?
A Call for Balanced Journalism
What we need is balanced, responsible journalism—not sensationalism. Illegal mining is a serious issue, but the solution is not found in ethnic profiling or targeting specific nationalities.
It is found in strong laws, equal enforcement, and political will.
Let us not forget that the majority of Ghana’s natural resources are still being mined legally by multinationals, most of whom are not Chinese, and who repatriate billions of dollars in profits with barely a fraction reinvested in Ghanaian communities.
So if you’re truly worried about who is bleeding Ghana dry, Mr. Boadu, perhaps it’s time you looked beyond the Chinese miners in the bush—and instead turned your pen toward the boardrooms of global corporations and the government ministries enabling them.
Conclusion: Let’s fix the system, not fuel unnecessary hatred
Illegal mining must be tackled, yes—but truthfully, fairly, and with honesty about all the players involved, including ourselves.
