By Rachel Kakraba
The Director of the Media for Peace and Sustainable Development Programme at the Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA), Dr Kojo Impraim, says the menace of illegal mining, popularly known as galamsey, has evolved into organised criminal activity, resulting in the proliferation of arms, human trafficking, and sexual exploitation. He warned that the trend is undermining community resilience, peace, and social cohesion.
“All the research that the foundation has commissioned shows that illegal mining has transitioned into criminal networks. We now have illegal sites where arms are being traded, and people are using weapons without authority,” he said.
Dr Impraim was speaking on GBC’s current affairs programme, Talking Point, which discussed President John Mahama’s high-level engagement with major civil society organisations to deliberate on lasting solutions to Ghana’s illegal mining crisis last Friday.
He called for stronger political commitment and will in tackling the issue, expressing concern about its deep-rooted influence on Ghana’s political and economic systems.
“We take that as firsthand information, but our view is that there should be stronger political commitment and political will to fight illegal mining. In my view, it has added another layer to the perpetual political capture of the political and economic landscape of this country. Therefore, some of us left the room not too convinced that there’s a strong political push to resolve the crisis confronting this country,” he stated.
Adding to this, he said: “We are seeing human trafficking directed towards illegal mining sites, and we are seeing sexual trafficking move to these sites. It’s not just about mining illegally, we are also creating problems when it comes to social cohesion, community resilience, and peace, which we must protect as a country.”
Dr Impraim advocated for the establishment of a single agency to lead and coordinate Ghana’s fight against illegal mining. He stated that the current fragmented approach, involving multiple institutions, has led to overlaps, adding that a centralised body would ensure clear leadership, eliminate duplication of roles, and streamline resources for more effective results.
“The other thing we need to focus on is regulation. There are so many regulators, we have the EPA, the Forestry Commission, the Minerals Commission, the Water Resources Commission — it goes all the way to the Food and Drugs Authority. But in my view, there is too much passing around of responsibilities, so we don’t seem to have one regulator truly coordinating the fight,” he explained.
Deputy Director of A Rocha Ghana, Darryl Bosu, said weak monitoring and enforcement of guidelines attached to mining licences remain a major obstacle in the fight against illegal small-scale mining. He explained that while mining companies are often granted licences with clearly defined environmental and operational requirements, the lack of strict oversight allows many to flout regulations with impunity.
“There are instances where certain companies obtain licences, some of them are large-scale, but they don’t have the capacity to mine. They sublet, and those they sublet to come in to maximise profits in terms of how much gold they can extract. They don’t really pay attention to all the guidelines, and that’s why you see most of them using mercury in uncontrolled ways because of poor regulation, even of the legal operators,” he said.
He added: “You would expect that the Forestry Commission or the Water Resources Commission would work with the police, but it rarely happens. Unless you call Accra to ask, ‘Does this company have a licence? Do they have permission to work here?’ And this has gone on for so long that miners know the state lacks capacity; that’s why we have so many digging operations almost everywhere.”
Mr Bosu described the meeting as a useful platform to update the public.
“Government really used the opportunity to provide information to citizens. We thought there would be more opportunity for engagement, but the way it was done, it felt more like a media engagement. Even though we are a civil society, we need more opportunities to engage,” he noted.
He also warned that the galamsey menace is growing in scale and stressed the need to link its impact to the cocoa value chain at the global level.
