New Chapter On Galamsey

 

The campaign against illegal mining, popularly known as galamsey, in the country has not abated.

It is perhaps the hottest subject in the country today, as politicians kick it to each other’s side of the public space like a soccer duel.

The worrying impression is that there is no political will to clamp down on it.

In the midst of the shouts at government to do something impactful against it, a correspondence was sighted yesterday – an invitation to a long list of civil society organisations (CSOs) to attend a government brokered engagement to discuss the subject further.

Dated September 13, 2025, the correspondence signed by the Secretary to the President said the meeting is scheduled to hold on Friday, October 3, 2025.

In terms of the stakeholder list, the organisers have done a very good job covering from the known to the little known organisations in the CSOs bracket.

We are constrained to question what exactly the invitees are expected to put on the table which are not known already.

For the CSOs which have been at the forefront of the campaign against galamsey since last year, we do not expect them to seek to re-invent the wheel. Those who have remained faithful to the subject, their position is that government declares a state of emergency to curb it.

In the run-up to the last elections, the CSOs supported by the opposition put forth a number of demands which they confidently said would stop illegal mining in the country.

At the time of the campaign, including sponsored demonstrations, it was alleged that the activities were intended to impact on the elections – it appears they did.  The integrity of the CSOs was questioned at the time, some of them losing their neutrality tag.

When appointments were being dished out, many were they who made it to the list after the elections. Cynics have constantly called out to these identifiable individuals to explain their silence to no avail.

Whatever happened to the stance they held at the time that it is possible to stop galamsey within a fortnight? This stance was constantly displayed a few months to the last polls although some appointees have disputed it today unsurprisingly.

The fact is that stopping galamsey is not a walk in the park as political campaigners sought to present the subject to Ghanaians.

While we cannot write off the importance of the planned meeting with stakeholders, doubts linger however in our minds about how much it can lead to a resolution of the conundrum which is what the subject represents on our socio-political space today in the country.

Skeptics have already described the engagement as a talk-shop intended to present government as being serious about ending galamsey.

At this stage, it is our suggestion to government to apologise to Ghanaians for getting it all wrong when they mounted the rostrums in the run-up to the last elections to claim their predecessors could have stopped illegal mining by declaring a state of emergency in the galamsey endemic areas.

Be it as it may, we can only wish the participants fruitful deliberations which would put a stop to galamsey in the country.

 

 

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