President John Dramani Mahama has made an admission on persons involved in illegal mining a.k.a. galamsey, in the country, saying persons in his networks are equally complicit in the act.
According to him, although the fight against the canker will be tough, it must be tackled at all cost to safeguard Ghana’s future.
At a meeting with Organised Labour at the Jubilee House in Accra on Tuesday, March 17, 2026, the President noted that persons involved in galamsey always shift allegiance with change in government, saying “…and so I don’t kid myself that we don’t have our own people involved.”
“Even when one party changes, those who were running some operation… 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,” he added.
President Mahama further acknowledged that the National Anti-Illegal Mining Operations Secretariat (NAIMOS) faces strong resistance from communities, where chiefs, youth, and residents often obstruct enforcement efforts.
“They go to a community and the chiefs, the youth and everybody come out and resist them. I don’t kid myself that we will be able to win that fight overnight. But we cannot relent, we must continue,” he urged.
He also pointed out that the drop in producer price of cocoa has also influenced some cocoa farmers to ditch the cash crop for gold mining, linking the prevalence of the menace to the economic pressures in the cocoa sector.
“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 asserted.
Meanwhile, the President is hopeful that the new pricing mechanism being introduced by the government to give up to 70 per cent of the global cocoa price to farmers will discourage the urge to abandon the crop for illegal mining.
The President further highlighted logistical challenges, including the lack of patrol boats and monitoring equipment for waterways and forest reserves. He said the government is working with the Ministries of Finance, Defence, and Interior to provide the necessary resources and facilities to strengthen anti-galamsey operations.
Galamsey is now a growing security threat in Ghana – KAIPTC Commandant
