Ghana EPA Chief Honors Injured Anti-Mining Journalists

When journalists risk their lives to expose environmental destruction, someone needs to make sure they're not forgotten.

That's exactly what happened when Ghana's Environmental Protection Authority chief made a special visit to reporters injured in the fight against illegal mining. Professor Nana Ama Browne Klutse personally checked on five media workers who were hurt in a November 2025 accident during an anti-galamsey operation.

Galamsey, Ghana's term for illegal mining, has devastated the country's forests and water sources for years. Journalists covering EPA enforcement efforts face real danger, as Nana Yaw Gyimah, Akwasi Adomako, Joseph Obeng and two colleagues from other outlets discovered firsthand.

The road accident left all five with varying injuries serious enough to keep them off work for months. But they've now returned to their newsrooms at Multimedia Group, Channel One TV, and Media General.

Professor Browne Klutse didn't just offer words of encouragement. She brought practical support: rice, tomatoes, and cash donations for the recovering journalists. More importantly, she assured them that insurance compensation is being processed, though paperwork has caused delays.

"We won't leave you behind," she told the reporters during her visits to their stations. "We are with you and don't forsake us too."

The Ripple Effect

This story matters beyond five injured people getting support. Journalists investigating environmental crimes face intimidation, violence, and now we know, physical danger during field operations worldwide.

When leaders like Professor Browne Klutse publicly honor that sacrifice, it sends a powerful message. Environmental journalism matters enough to protect the people doing it. Ghana's water bodies and forests depend on reporters willing to document illegal mining's destruction, even when it means risking their safety.

Nana Yaw Gyimah, speaking for his colleagues, acknowledged the tough recovery process but expressed gratitude for being alive. "Our healing process was tough, but in all God has saved us," he said, adding that the EPA's visit "rekindled our relationship" between environmental enforcers and the press covering them.

The Ghana Journalists Association's Ashanti Regional Chairman, Kofi Adu Domfeh, accompanied officials on the visits, reinforcing the bond between media and environmental protection agencies.

Five reporters are back at work telling stories that matter, knowing someone has their back.