Residents turn to community patrols as illegal gold mining grows in Ghana

 As day broke in a remote part of western Ghana, a priest, farmers and other residents combed through the forests, looking for signs of illegal gold mining.

They have done this for the past year as part of a grassroots task force created to combat the mining that has poisoned rivers in one of the world’s largest gold-producing countries.

The group is also driven by the sight of Ghana’s unemployed youth being attracted to illegal mining and the elusive promise of quick wealth. Meanwhile, the economy suffers: Ghana has lost $11.4 billion in the last five years to gold smuggling, the development nonprofit Swissaid said this year.

The task force’s 14 members call themselves the Jema Anti-Galamsey Advocacy, and their arrests of suspected illegal miners have sparked debate in Ghana’s Western North region over their potential abuse of power.

Members point to the 450-square-kilometer (173-square-mile) Jema area’s relatively clean