Brutal galamsey attack: - Forest guard battles for livelihood

A forest guard who was deployed for anti-galamsey operation in the Offin Shelterbelt Forest Reserve in the Ashanti Region is now battling for his life after falling prey to a brutal attack by illegal miners in the forest.

Sulemana Fuseini Ziama, 26, who was slashed on the knee with a machete, requiring two surgeries and other critical medical care at multiple health facilities, still remains in critical condition nearly a year since the attack in the Nkawie District.

Up to this day, he still endures unbearable pain in his leg, his life completely altered by the fateful encounter with galamseyers.

The native of Nadowli-Kaleo in the Upper West Region had gone on duty with 23 other members of the Forestry Commission’s Rapid Response Team (RRT).

Little did he know that he would fall prey to the predatory illegal miners.

He was recruited by the Forestry Commission in December 2022, and posted to the Bole Bamboi District.

Mr Ziama then received special training to serve in the Rapid Response Team, a special unit of the commission responsible for routine surveillance and safeguarding of forest reserves from illegal activities.

He was later deployed to the Nkawie Forest District in 2024 to guard forest reserves.

Narration

Narrating events of the day in an interview with the Daily Graphic, Mr Ziama said on March 22, last year, the Rapid Response Team was deployed to Mmofrafadwene in the Nkawie District to monitor illegal human activities in the Offin Shelter Forest Reserve.

It was during that duty that he was attacked and nearly lynched by the illegal miners.

“When we got to the forest reserve, we realised that illegal mining was ongoing.

As we tried to get to where the illegal miners were, we were ambushed by gunmen who blocked the road.

Initially, they were 10 in number; but all of a sudden, about 20 others emerged from the bushes.

As we tried to make a tactical retreat, three of them attacked me and slashed my knee with machetes,” he said.

“I was first sent to the Nkawie Hospital and later moved to the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital in Kumasi.

I went through the first surgery on March 23, 2025 and the second surgery was done four days later,” he narrated.

“I am still going through physiotherapy at the Holy Family Hospital, and my doctor said it will take me at least one more year to be able to walk well.

Life is really terrible for me now because I can no longer do the things I did,” he added.

Time, he said, had failed to heal the physical pain or wipe out the psychological trauma that continued to transport him involuntarily back into the fateful forest encounter.

Nightmares

It appears the nightmarish experience was a practical fear among forest guards long before the reality dawned.

Mr Ziama said anytime the Rapid Response Team set out for the field, they resigned themselves to the possibility that their safe return was not guaranteed.

He said illegal miners and loggers operating clandestinely in the forests possessed sophisticated weapons and were trigger-happy.

“Anytime we move out for field operations, they know all our movements because they have people in nearby communities who give them information.

The illegal miners also hire the services of armed guards to protect them while they destroy the forest,” he said.

Mr Ziama’s experience is just one of the experiences of forest guards.

During a one-week visit to some mining communities in the Ashanti Region from January 19 to 23 this year, some of the forest guards narrated their traumatic experiences in the hands of illegal miners.

Augustine Abu-Bonsra, who works at the Bekwai Forest District, said he was attacked by illegal miners on January 9, 2024 by some community members engaged in galamsey.

“The rapid response team carried out operations to stop illegal mining in that area.

Later that evening, they attacked those of us who lived in that community and burnt two of our motorcycles,” he said.

Wider picture

Meanwhile, the Nkawie District Manager of the Forestry Commission, Abraham Essel, said the ordeal of Mr Ziama was just one of the numerous traumatising challenges forest guards went through in the line of duty.

“Our forest guards come under attacks and receive threats and abuse from thugs all the time. I have personally met such confrontations by thugs in forest reserves, and it gets so scary,” he said.

He stressed that if immediate steps were not taken to tackle the challenge head-on, the country could lose its forest reserves and human resources.

Mr Essel said while the Forestry Commission was trying to protect the forest reserves with limited resources, the miscreants were getting more sophisticated in their mode of operation.

“The emotional and psychological toll on the remaining officers and their families is immense, often leading to low morale and a reluctance to engage in high-risk operations,” he added.

As of December 2025, the Forestry Commission’s data showed that at least 10 of its officers had lost their lives in direct confrontations with illegal miners over the past five years.

One of the most widely reported incidents occurred in January 2022, when a forest guard, Stephen Kumi, was shot and killed by suspected illegal miners in the Neung Forest Reserve in the Western North Region.

Another incident took place in August 2021, when a forestry guard was severely injured after being attacked by illegal miners in the Atewa Forest Reserve.

In October 2023, a team of Forestry Commission officers and military personnel on an anti-galamsey operation in the Atewa Forest Reserve were ambushed by illegal miners and inflicted with machete injuries.

Earlier that same year, a similar attack occurred in the Western Region, where Forestry Commission officers attempting to halt illegal logging were attacked by thugs wielding machetes and other weapons.

Resource the guards

Mr Essel said there was the urgent need for the government to provide more resources and build the capacity of forest guards to enable them to deal with the thuggery associated with galamsey.

“At this point, we need body cameras to capture images that showcase the scale of these illegalities in our forest reserves,” he added.

Mr Essel also stressed that there was the need for sustained education in local communities for the people to appreciate the impact of the destruction of forest reserves by illegal miners.

“When they get this understanding and support us, no illegal miner can enter any forest reserve in this country and destroy it,” he said.

No insurance

Meanwhile, the Daily Graphic’s checks with the Forestry Commission revealed that there is currently no form of insurance package for members of the rapid response team and the forest guards who risk their lives to protect forest reserves.

The Chief Executive of the Commission, Dr Hugh Brown, explained that discussions were ongoing on the possibility to roll out insurance package for the forest guards.

“Our major challenge is the huge amount involved in rolling out the insurance package.

We have about 2,100 forest and wildlife guards.

Initially, we were looking at only the rapid response team, but we also realised that we cannot do it for only members of that team and leave out the forest guards who are permanently protecting the reserves,” he said.   

The Executive Director of the Africa Centre for Security and Counterterrorism, Emmanuel Mawanye Kotin, said the recurring attacks on forest guards underscored a significant security failure stemming from an insufficient political commitment.

“When forest guards confront armed gangs with superior weaponry, it reflects an asymmetric conflict and a lack of effective state intervention,” he stressed.