Hey Stranger!

It's Galamsey, again!

Author

Chale News
October 20, 2025

So, what’s in the bag today?

  • National: After years of military raids and fancy “Operations,” galamsey is still out here surviving like a cockroach in a nuclear blast.

  • Economic: Ghana’s central bank is done playing peekaboo with crypto. Big Brother BoG is now online.

  • Crime: Mildred Donkor just went from “co-accused” to “chief storyteller”.

  • Crime: This one was stealing in the Lord’s name.

  • Economic: Businesses are screaming, “Let there be light but not at these prices!”

  • Fact of the Day: Only the tongue is connected this way.

  • Health: 42 a day? Ghana’s got a new problem, and it’s not load-shedding

QUICK BYTE

  • Ghana’s fight against galamsey is giving that one toxic situationship that just won’t end. You block it, it finds a new number. You move on, it reappears with a “hey stranger” text. That’s how illegal mining has been surviving every so-called “Operation.” From Kufuor’s “Flashout” to Mahama’s “Cowleg” (which, by the way, still sounds like a street food name), to Akufo-Addo’s “Halt 1 & 2,” we’ve basically tried everything except therapy. Yet, somehow, the miners are always two steps ahead. Get the full deets in the Deep Dive section.

  • So apparently, our beloved BoG Governor, Dr. Johnson Asiama, was in Washington DC at the IMF/World Bank meetings doing serious adult things when he dropped the bomb: Ghana’s bringing a new crypto law before the year ends. Yup, by December, you might need permission to flex your crypto wallet. He said the IMF even helped draft the bill (so if your crypto ever freezes, don’t shout — blame IMF and your VPN). The move comes after they noticed remittances through banks dropping, and realized people had been sending money through alternative routes. Translation: people dey use USDT like momo. The BoG’s new law called the Virtual Assets Bill will regulate crypto trading, stablecoins, and other virtual currencies. And they’re even forming a whole new department to monitor the thing. Read more

  • Mildred Donkor just went from “co-accused” to “chief storyteller” after the AG dropped charges against her in the Adu-Boahene case. She’ll now testify against her former boss and crew. The way things are going, Get the 411 in the Deep Dive section below

  • A 45-year-old “prophetess” in Abuakwa has been sentenced to five years in jail after turning prophecy into petty theft. Sis would pull up on people with a “God has a message for you” vibe, convince them to drop their bags “for prayers,” then disappear faster than momo data. One victim lost her iPhone and cash; another lost 29 pieces of cloth and an iPhone 6s, apparently, deliverance needed wardrobe changes. Police finally caught her chilling in Krofrom, where she confessed to selling everything. So now, the woman of God has a new congregation…in prison. Amen and hallelujah. Read more

FACT OF THE DAY

❝

The tongue is the only muscle in the body attached from one end.

All other muscles are fully attached to bones and skin.


  • Brooo, Ghanaian businesses are crying in 3D. Like, imagine trying to blend your waakye stew and the light bill alone is telling you, “You sure you wanna turn that blender on?” That’s the vibe right now. The Food and Beverages Association, GUTA, and the Plastics people all came together to basically say, “Dear PURC, whatever you’re smoking with these tariff hikes, please stop. It’s giving anti-growth, anti-business, and anti-sanity.” Read more

  • Apparently, HIV is out here doing “daily streaks” in Ghana. Every single day, 42 new people join the HIV list. That’s like adding one fresh class of students daily. If HIV were a TikTok trend, it’d be the kind you wish would flop immediately. The Ghana AIDS Commission says we’ve now got 334,721 people living with HIV and before you even blink, 15,000 more joined the list last year alone. And ladies… y’all are catching it more. About 68% of cases are women. It’s almost like HIV didn’t get the memo on gender equality. The Bono Region’s leading with the highest prevalence (2.22%), followed by Eastern and Ahafo. Meanwhile, North East is chilling at the bottom with just 0.43%. Not exactly a flex, but at least it’s low. Read more

  • The Black Princesses might’ve cooked Tunisia 4–0 on the pitch, but off it? It’s been radio silence from the money men. Despite weeks passing since their World Cup qualifier win, the team still hasn’t seen their per diems just a GHS 500 “chop money” from the GFA to hold body and soul together. Meanwhile, their big brothers, the Black Stars, are cashing cheques and bonuses like it’s salary week. The Sports Ministry insists the girls have been paid, but the team says, “Which account, abeg?” Read more

DEEP DIVE

Operation Flashout, Cowleg, Vanguard, Halt, and Still, Galamsey Said “You Can’t Sit With Us”

At this point, galamsey deserves its own reality show, Keeping Up with the Illegal Miners. The government keeps sending soldiers and police to chase them, but somehow, these miners always respawn like it’s GTA.

The National Coalition on Mining say this military show of force is just for aesthetics. Like, yes, we love the photo ops of men in uniform standing in muddy water with serious faces, but where are the results? The rivers still look like Milo, and the communities still can’t farm. The Coalition’s Emmanuel Ellimah is basically saying, “Bro, if soldiers could stop galamsey, we’d be done by now.” And he’s right, we’ve been doing the same thing and expecting new results. Definition of insanity much?

What’s funny (or tragic, depending on your mood) is that the government just launched a new group, NAIMOS, an inter-security agency meant to “brutally fight galamsey.” Because apparently, what we needed wasn’t a new plan, but a new acronym. Meanwhile, miners are still out there making smoothies out of river bodies.

Maybe, just maybe, we should try what the Coalition is suggesting, empower local communities, enforce environmental rules, and stop treating galamsey like a bad ex we can shoot our way out of. Because at this point, Ghana’s relationship with illegal mining is giving “it’s complicated” energy. Read more

Court Rise!

Mildred Donkor, the third accused in the Adu-Boahene trial just hit the biggest Uno reverse card of the year. Sis went from “your honour, I plead not guilty” to “your honour, let me tell you everything they did.” 

So the Attorney General, Dr. Dominic Ayine, decided to drop all charges against Mildred after she agreed to testify for the prosecution. That means she’s now the main character in witness protection. They even filed the paperwork under Section 59 aka the “I’m switching teams” clause of Ghana’s Criminal Code. Now, instead of sweating in the dock, Mildred will be spilling tea in the witness box.

According to her statement, she only became a director of Advantage Solutions Limited because Mr. Adu-Boahene (the big boss) needed an extra name on paper. Basically, she was a “ghost director”, there for vibes and signatures. She claims she didn’t make any major decisions, just followed instructions from Adu-Boahene and his close ally, Angela Adjei Boateng. They even gave her pre-signed cheque books to fill in amounts from GH¢2,000 to GH¢1 million. One million! Just like that. Meanwhile, some of us have to explain GH¢50 momo requests. 😭

She said she was withdrawing cash, handing it over to Adu-Boahene, Angela, or even Adu-Boahene’s mum (because why not make it a full family business?). In one transaction, GH¢2.5 million allegedly got moved to another company called I-ZAR Limited. Girl wasn’t even on payroll. She said she acted purely on ad hoc instructions. Which basically means she was out here doing “errands with zero HR protection.” Read more

NEWS SOURCES

Today’s stories are curated from: