By Love Wilhelmina Abanonave
Lawyer and President of the Accountability Forum, Kwame Owusu Danso Esq, has called for a bold approach in tackling illegal mining, also known as ‘galamsey’, suggesting going for the ‘shoot and kill’ approach.
According to him, the country must not adopt any “walk in the park” kind of approach in tackling the issue.
During a panel discussion on GBC’s Current Agenda on Saturday, November 22, 2025, Mr. Danso stressed that “if the country was really invested in this, if we genuinely believe that this is very injurious to the survival of this country because it is a national security threat, then I think our approach ought to change. We must be very, very aggressive,” he said.
He mentioned that though the ‘shoot and kill’ approach seems a little extreme, we must begin to look at that approach, in his words.
The lawyer further stated that desperate times call for desperate measures and acknowledged that the country was indeed in desperate times.
“We are desperately in need of some solution and I’m not seeing the kind of bold solution that has been put forward by government in addressing the issue.”
He added that small-scale mining has political implications, and that has been used over the years to tie the hands of politicians behind their backs, citing instances where culprits in the galamsey act use the excuse of ‘no jobs’.
“When you go to these mining communities, their only defense is that, ‘Well, we have no jobs, and so you cannot prevent us from taking care of our family members. Or if you prevent us from mining, we are also not going to vote for you.’ These defenses,” he said, “are the reason politicians’ hands are tied in the fight against illegal mining.”
