President John Dramani Mahama has acknowledged that illegal mining, widely known as galamsey, involves individuals across political and traditional structures, warning that the fight against the menace will be difficult but must continue.
He made the remarks during a meeting with Organised Labour at the Jubilee House in Accra on Tuesday, March 17.
The President said illegal mining has deeply infiltrated Ghanaian society, cutting across political parties and local leadership, making efforts to combat it more complex.
“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,” he said.
He noted that operators often shift allegiance when governments change, allowing the practice to persist.
“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 stated.
President Mahama admitted that the work of the anti-illegal mining task force is challenging, especially in communities where resistance is strong.
“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 said.
He also linked the rise in illegal mining to challenges in the cocoa sector, explaining that low producer prices have pushed some farmers to abandon cocoa farming for 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 noted.
The President expressed optimism that stabilising cocoa prices would discourage farmers from turning to illegal mining, adding that government is working on a pricing mechanism that ensures farmers receive a fair share of global prices.
“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,” he said.
President Mahama further highlighted logistical challenges facing the anti-galamsey fight, particularly the lack of patrol equipment to monitor rivers and forest reserves.
“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.
He added that government is working with the Finance, Defence and Interior ministries to provide the necessary resources, including patrol equipment and facilities for security personnel.
“So we are working with the minister of finance to be able to maintain that,” he said.
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