President John Dramani Mahama has acknowledged that illegal mining, popularly known as galamsey, cuts across political lines and traditional authority structures, cautioning that tackling the problem will be difficult but unavoidable.
He made the remarks on Tuesday, March 17, during a meeting with Organised Labour at the Jubilee House.
According to the President, the practice has become deeply rooted in society, making the fight against it more complex than often assumed.
“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 explained that the situation is further complicated by shifting political loyalties among operators, allowing the activity to persist despite changes in government.
“Even when one party changes, those who were running some operations under one party move to the next and say, now that you have come, take over this operation and let’s share. We too will be getting something. And so I don’t kid myself that we don’t have our own people involved,” he stated.
President Mahama also pointed to the difficulties faced by enforcement teams, particularly in communities where illegal mining enjoys local support.
“And the work of NAIMOS is not easy. They go to a community and the chiefs, the youth and everybody come out and resist them. So I don’t kid myself that we will be able to win that fight overnight. But we cannot relent; we must continue,” he said.
The President linked the rise in galamsey to economic pressures within the cocoa sector, noting that low producer prices have driven some farmers away from cocoa production into illegal mining.
“And it doesn’t help when we have a crisis in the cocoa industry. The low price paid to cocoa farmers made some of them give up their farms for gold mining,” he noted.
He expressed hope that reforms in cocoa pricing would help reverse the trend, indicating that government is working on a mechanism to ensure farmers receive a fairer share of global prices.
“We are hoping that it will stabilise with the new automatic mechanism we are introducing so that farmers know they are getting 70% of the price,” he said.
Touching on operational challenges, President Mahama highlighted the lack of logistics, particularly patrol boats, as a major setback in monitoring illegal activities on water bodies.
“One of the problems we have is that we don’t have patrol boats, especially on our waterways, to sustain monitoring over long periods,” he explained.
He added that efforts are underway in collaboration with the Finance, Defence, and Interior ministries to equip security agencies with the needed resources.
“So we are working with the Minister of Finance to address that,” he said.
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