Galamsey: A National Crisis Demanding Immediate Action – Manhyia North MP

Illegal small-scale mining, locally referred to as galamsey, is far from a recent phenomenon in Ghana. Its origins can be traced to the precolonial era, when gold mining was deeply embedded in the cultural and economic fabric of indigenous communities. For generations, small scale mining was a lifeline, sustaining rural livelihoods across regions rich in mineral deposits.
However, the landscape began to shift dramatically in the 1980s when the implementation of Structural Adjustment Programs liberalized the mining sector. These reforms paved the way for multinational corporations to dominate large scale mining, inadvertently marginalizing local miners. As a result, thousands of Ghanaians, disenfranchised by exclusionary policies, turned to informal mining for survival. Over the years, what began as a means of livelihood has spiraled into a national emergency, driven by regulatory neglect and institutional weakness.
Decades of Policy Failure: Government Responses that Fell Short
Over the past four decades, successive governments have failed to adequately regulate or formalize the small-scale mining sector. While numerous environmental protocols and sustainability commitments have been signed, implementation remains sorely lacking. Law enforcement is patchy at best and complicit at worst, allowing galamsey to flourish in impunity.
Enforcement operations have come and gone, yet illegal mining sites often return to full operation within months of being shut down. This points to a systemic failure rooted not just in weak oversight but also in a lack of political will. It is not merely an environmental oversight—it is a national security lapse that endangers human life and undermines state authority.
Counting the Human Cost: Galamsey as a Death Trap
Galamsey is no longer just a matter of environmental concern, it is a human crisis. From January to August 2025 alone, Ghana recorded at least 39 deaths directly linked to illegal mining activities. These are not abstract statistics. They are real people—mothers, fathers, sons, and daughters whose lives were cut short due to dangerous, unregulated mining conditions. Tragic incidents abound:
a) On January 8, 2025, two young men died in a pit collapse in Osino, Fanteakwa;
b) Just 12 days later, eight lives were lost during a violent clash between armed illegal miners and a joint security team at the AngloGold Ashanti concession in Obuasi;
c) On April 1, 2025, another fatal collapse in Mpasatia claimed two more lives;
d) On July 16, four individuals perished in Akyem Wenchi under similarly tragic circumstances;
e) July 29, 2025, a 50-year-old woman fell into an abandoned pit and died despite rescue efforts; and
f) More recently, in August, 2025, 22 drown in galamsey pits in central region.
These tragedies are not isolated accidents—they are the predictable outcomes of failed policy, inadequate enforcement, and systemic negligence.
Broken Promises in Power: The NDC’s Contradictory Record
The current NDC led administration must be held to account for its shifting stance on galamsey. In opposition, the party was vocally critical of illegal mining and promised comprehensive reforms. However, now in power, their approach is marked by inertia and contradiction.
Despite having access to advanced surveillance tools such as drone technology and satellite imagery, pioneered under the NPP’s digitalization drive spearheaded by Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, the NDC government has failed to leverage these innovations effectively. The same tools they once ridiculed now present a viable strategy to combat illegal mining, yet there is little evidence of their widespread deployment. What has changed is not the availability of tools, but the political will to act decisively.
Political Appropriation Over Progress: Rebranding NPP Initiatives
In a concerning trend, the current administration has begun rebranding key initiatives of the previous government rather than building on or improving them.
Take the Green Ghana initiative, launched under the NPP to restore forest cover and combat environmental degradation. Rather than strengthening this bold environmental campaign, the NDC has attempted to repackage it under a different label, undermining continuity and diluting its effectiveness.
Similarly, the Community Mining Initiative, originally introduced by the NPP to provide regulated, safe alternatives to galamsey, has been rebranded as rCOMSDEP under the current administration. However, this repackaging appears to be more cosmetic than substantive. Instead of enhancing the original framework with better monitoring, training, or environmental safeguards, rCOMSDEP remains plagued by the same regulatory lapses raising questions about the true intent behind the rebranding exercise.
This pattern of appropriation without accountability highlights a broader issue: the politicization of national development initiatives at the expense of lives, livelihoods, and the environment.
Lives Are Being Lost, and Time is Running Out
Galamsey is not just an environmental or economic issue, it is a matter of life and death. The tragic and avoidable loss of life in illegal mining pits across the country demands urgent, nonpartisan action. The Mahama led government must prioritize real time surveillance, reinvest in regulated community-based mining cooperatives, and stop rebranding legacy projects without substance. This is not the time for political point scoring. It is the time for leadership, accountability, and decisive action.
The cost of inaction is not just environmental degradation or economic loss, it is human life. Every Ghanaian life matters. And every death in a galamsey pit is a damning indictment of our collective failure to act. Let us not wait for another tragedy to do what should have been done years ago. The time to act is now.
Author: Hon. Akwasi Konadu, MGIP.
MP, Manhyia North Constituency
Deputy Ranking, Lands and Natural Resources Committee
Former Deputy Minister, Lands and Natural Resources