President John Dramani Mahama has openly acknowledged that illegal small-scale mining, commonly known as galamsey, involves individuals from across political parties, traditional leadership, and various segments of Ghanaian society, making the fight against the environmental menace far more difficult than it appears.
The President made the candid admission during a meeting with Organised Labour at the Jubilee House in Accra on Tuesday, March 17.
He described galamsey as a deeply entrenched problem that has permeated the fabric of society, involving not just ordinary citizens but also chiefs, political appointees, and operators who shift allegiance depending on which party is in power.
“Illegal mining has eaten into the fabric of our society. And I must say that it is not only a menace to our society, but it has involved a circle of traditional rulers, political party appointees and everything,” President Mahama said.
“Even when one party changes, those who were running some operation, who went to one party, will go to the next party and say, now that you have come, come and take over this operation and let’s share. We too will be getting small, this is what we are doing. And so I don’t kid myself that we don’t have our own people involved,” he added.
The President stressed that the operations of the National Anti-Illegal Mining Operations Support (NAIMOS) task force face significant resistance in many communities, where chiefs, youth, and residents often mobilise to obstruct enforcement efforts.
“And the work of the NAIMOS is not easy. They go to a community and the chiefs, the youth and everybody come out and resist them. And so I didn’t kid myself that we will be able to win that fight overnight. But we cannot relent, we must continue,” he emphasised.
President Mahama also connected the surge in galamsey activities to difficulties in the cocoa sector, noting that persistently low producer prices have driven some cocoa farmers to abandon their farms in favour of illegal gold mining.
“And it doesn’t help when we have crisis in the cocoa industry. The low price that was paid to cocoa farmers made some of them give up their farms for gold mining,” he observed.
He expressed hope that the introduction of a new automatic pricing mechanism would help stabilise earnings for cocoa farmers and reduce the incentive to turn to galamsey.
“We are hoping that it will stabilize with the new automatic mechanism we are coming with so that farmers know that they are getting 70% of the price,” the President said.
He further highlighted logistical constraints hampering the anti-galamsey campaign, particularly the shortage of patrol boats needed to monitor rivers and waterways for extended periods.
“One of the problems we have is we don’t have patrol boats, especially on our waterways for nine months to continue to patrol the waterways,” he explained.
President Mahama assured that government is collaborating with the Ministries of Finance, Defence, and Interior to address these gaps by providing the required equipment and support for security personnel engaged in the operations.
“So we are working with the minister of finance to be able to maintain that,” he concluded.