Joseph Nii Ayikoi Otoo, a former Attorney-General and Minister of Justice under the John Kufuor administration, is questioning the whereabouts of the voices that demanded a state of emergency be declared ahead of the December 2024 elections.
He has lamented that those who agitated for the repeal of certain Legislative Instruments (L.I.) allowing mining in forest reserves at the time have now gone silent.
According to him, those who called for certain initiatives to be taken to end the menace at the time are now in office but have failed to do the very things they called for.
“It’s been a problem all over, and those who were shouting at the top of their voices, ‘Declare a state of emergency, repeal L.I. so and so,’ they’re now in office; they haven’t done that. Would you want to talk about those things?” he quizzed on TV3’s Agenda on Tuesday, September 30, 2025.
Meanwhile, Francis Kwaku Poku, a former National Security Coordinator under the John Agyekum Kufuor administration, speaking on the same show, indicated that those calling for a state of emergency over galamsey are doing so because they have lost faith in successive governments’ ability to fight the menace.
He said the nation is rather focusing on what went wrong than providing solutions to the questions the public has been asking. Francis Poku added that people are insisting on the declaration of a state of emergency because the situation has escalated to desperate times.
“The public, understandable, are very desperate, and when you’re desperate, you’re looking for solutions so the public outcry in my own view, is the loss of confidence and the ability of all political parties to solve the problem. We are focusing on what went wrong but where we are now, the public is looking for answers, we have had delayed actions,” he asserted.
Galamsey has destroyed forest reserves in the country and polluted water bodies where turbidity levels cannot be treated by the Ghana Water Company Ltd., forcing them to shut down some of their treatment plants.
Recent research has revealed that soil in mining areas where galamsey is prevalent has been contaminated with chemicals such as mercury and cyanide, used by illegal miners, thereby affecting food produced in these areas.
Meanwhile, President John Dramani Mahama has invited major civil society organisations (CSOs) to the Jubilee House for a high-level engagement on the canker.
The meeting, scheduled for Friday, October 3, 2025, at 12:00 noon, will bring together government officials and civil society leaders to deliberate on lasting solutions to the environmental and social crisis caused by galamsey.
In a letter signed by Dr Callistus Mahama, Secretary to the President, the dialogue is described as a platform for “frank and constructive discussions” to harness collective expertise and perspectives.
“This engagement aims to provide a platform for frank and constructive dialogue between the Government and civil society on the menace of illegal mining, with a view to harnessing collective expertise, perspectives, and solutions to address this national challenge,” the letter stated.
The engagement comes at a time when illegal mining continues to spark widespread public concern over the destruction of water bodies, farmlands, and forest reserves, amid calls for stronger government action.
