Open letter to President Mahama: Leave the chiefs and fix galamsey
Your Excellency, I write to respectfully inform you that I completely disagree with you on your appeal to the Chiefs in the mining areas concerning their support to the government’s fight against illegal mining, popularly known as galamsey. I can confidently tell you that these Chiefs will never take any action because they are already […]
Dear President Mahama, I am writing to express my disagreement with your appeal to the Chiefs in mining regions to support the government's efforts against illegal mining, commonly referred to as galamsey. The Chiefs are unlikely to take action as they are aware of their involvement with galamseyers and may even be complicit. During your meetings with the Chiefs, you did not inquire about their role in the illegal mining activities.
It is crucial to understand how the chiefs permit access to their lands for galamsey activities, whether they allocate the lands directly, report illegal miners to law enforcement agencies, or receive monetary compensation or a percentage of the production from the galamseyers. The Chiefs do not possess the authority to combat galamsey, but you, as President, possess the power to address the issue without favoritism.
Solving the galamsey problem should have been a priority when you won the elections, but Ghana has yet to see substantial progress in your galamsey fight since you assumed office. Water bodies continue to suffer from pollution and siltation, reaching alarming levels. It is essential to acknowledge that both licensed small-scale miners and illegal galamseyers contribute to the pollution and degradation of lands and water resources.
Despite the government's efforts, there is no Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) in place to ensure responsible mining practices that do not pollute water bodies and protect the lands. The current approach of solely relying on the military to combat illegal miners has not yielded the desired results, as licensed small-scale miners continue to contribute to the problem.
Ghana has a history of failed strategies, including Operations Vanguard, Halt 1, 2 & 3, and Galamstop under previous administrations, and the implementation of the River Wardens in 2022 has also proven ineffective due to poor execution. It is disheartening to witness the disappointment among many Ghanaians regarding the handling of galamsey matters under your presidency, given your campaign promises.
It is concerning that, despite receiving a significant budget from the Lands Minister and the Finance Minister, the galamsey problem remains unresolved, and the available funding barely represents 0.13% of the required amount. Furthermore, the Goldbod's mandate is to support responsible mining nationwide, primarily through collaboration with the Ministry responsible for Mines.
Goldbod receives a significant portion of its gold from artisanal and small-scale miners, thus playing a vital role in the stabilization of the economy. However, Goldbod is not mandated to address mining issues. It is time for the Goldbod to allocate funds to the Lands & Natural Resources Ministry to tackle galamsey issues from a technical standpoint, rather than focusing on executing mining projects.
As your term as President ends in 2027, you have a limited window of opportunity to deliver on your galamsey solution promise to Ghanaians and the world. Please take action now by abandoning the politicization of the issue, adopting a technical solution, and providing financial resources for the Lands Minister to work. Thank you.
Written by urgent.news from Adom Online's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
