Nana Yaa Jantuah is a board member of PURC Nana Yaa Jantuah is a board member of PURC

Nana Yaa Jantuah, a board member of the Public Utilities Regulatory Commission (PURC), has raised serious concerns about the future of Ghana’s water security, warning that illegal mining activities (galamsey) could render the country “water poor” within the next decade and a half.

Speaking during the PURC’s stakeholders’ engagement for the 2025–2030 major tariff review on Monday, September 8, 2025, Jantuah highlighted the growing threat galamsey poses to Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL) and the wider population.

“Ghana Water is endangered because our waters are compromised, and if we are not careful, in the next 10 to 15 years Ghana would be water poor. And when Ghana is water poor, it is the poor that is going to suffer,” she cautioned.

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Jantuah explained that the utility already relies on increasingly expensive chemicals to make water safe for drinking and domestic use.

She stressed that continued human activities along river bodies, particularly galamsey, would only worsen the crisis.

“If we’re not careful, we’re going to add vulnerabilities to the vulnerable. The time has come for everybody to ensure that galamsey is dealt with, and for all of us to accept that activities around our river bodies are unsustainable,” she warned.

On the importance of the engagement, she said the exercise was rooted in law and essential for safeguarding investments in the utilities sector.

“It is very essential that we do what we are doing because it is steeped in a legal context and purpose under section 3(a), 3(b), and 16 of the PURC Act and the PURC guidelines for investment approval,” she stated.

The PURC engagement featured presentations from key utility providers, including ECG, VRA, GRIDCo, Ghana Gas, and Ghana Water, outlining their needs for the next regulatory period.

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