Vice President of policy think tank IMANI Africa, Kofi Bentil, says Ghana will not win the fight against illegal mining, popularly known as galamsey, because those responsible for fixing the problem are the very people benefiting from it.
Speaking on the matter on the KeyPoints, Mr. Bentil argued that the lack of political will, coupled with entrenched political and financial interests, has rendered the fight ineffective despite years of promises and campaigns.
“We will not solve galamsey because we are not serious about solving galamsey. There is no political will. There’s only political rhetoric,” he stated on September 20.
Mr. Bentil acknowledged that those calling for a state of emergency in mining areas have legitimate grounds.
He explained that when politicians made promises to clamp down on illegal mining and built campaigns around it, they entered into a “social contract” with Ghanaians.
However, he believes declaring security zones would be a more practical approach than a state of emergency.
“Instead of declaring a state of emergency and doing nothing, government can simply declare galamsey areas as security zones. That allows the military and police to take charge without going to Parliament. If our army is left alone, I have no doubt they can do this job,” he argued.
Mr. Bentil blamed the failure to end galamsey on political hypocrisy and corruption, saying successive governments have used the issue for political gain rather than national interest.
“When we politicise everything, we make progress impossible. Removing one government and bringing another does not stop the financiers of galamsey. The boys in the forest mining illegally, the kingpins in Accra, and those financing it only shift allegiance between NPP and NDC,” he said.
He stressed that galamsey continues to thrive because it is tied to Ghana’s economy.
According to him, the stability of the cedi in recent years has been supported partly by gold sourced from small-scale mining.
“The economy is supported by it. Those in charge of stopping galamsey are the ones benefiting from it. That is why we don’t see any decisive actions,” he noted.
Mr. Bentil outlined several immediate measures government could implement if it truly wanted to fight galamsey:
Ban excavator imports for non-construction uses: He questioned why a small country like Ghana is among the largest importers of excavators when most of them are used for destruction rather than construction.
Hold leaders accountable: He suggested that district chief executives, regional ministers, and chiefs should lose their positions if galamsey is found in their jurisdictions.
Nationalise affected lands: Chiefs who allow galamsey on their lands should forfeit those lands to the state, since they hold them in trust for the people.
Quoting American economist Thomas Sowell, Mr. Bentil highlighted the danger of leaving national decisions in the hands of leaders who suffer no consequences for failure.
“They don’t pay any price for failing and in the case of galamsey, they actually benefit from failing. That is why nothing will change,” he lamented.
For him, the fight against illegal mining has been reduced to political slogans and promises without the “definite effective actions” needed to tackle the crisis.
Until leaders are willing to take bold measures and hold themselves and traditional authorities accountable, he concluded, galamsey will continue to destroy Ghana’s environment and threaten its future.
