Illegal small-scale mining (known as galamsey) in Ghana has remained a national concern in the last decade with the previous New Patriotic Party (NPP) administration claiming that it cost them parliamentary seats in ‘galamsey’ areas during the 2020 elections (here, here, here, and here).
This has been a reason used to justify why the Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo-led government (2017 – 2025) never declared a state of emergency on the crisis.
Recently, on Joy FM’s Newsfile programme, spokesperson for former Vice President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, Dennis Miracles Aboagye, shared several anti-galamsey interventions he said the current National Democratic Congress (NDC) government promised to do but hasn’t fulfilled.
These, he said, included declaring a state of emergency on “galamsey”, banning small-scale mining, among others.
“Now the two political parties going into the elections had to give the country what strategies they would use to deal with it. According to the nation, you gave superior options to dealing with the ‘galamsey’ menace…
“You said that one, you’re going to declare a state of emergency. Number two, you said, you’re going to ban all forms of small-scale mining for a while… three, you said that you’re going to free all the ‘galamsey boys who were arrested in the galamsey pit so you can go after the kingpins. You said that you were going to use AI to aid you in the fight of ‘galamsey’…,” he said (between 52:29 – 53:45 of the 2-hour, 37-minute show).
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GhanaFact observed that these comments drew reactions from some members of the NDC, including Dr Samuel Ayeh, a presidential staffer who responded on X, denying that his party had promised to declare a state of emergency on “galamsey.”
“For the avoidance of doubt, it was never a campaign promise by the then opposition NDC to declare a state of emergency when we win power. The claim by NPP is only a figment of the NPP’s imagination. Ignore the lies of Dennis Miracles Aboagye,” he said on August 16, 2025.
- What did the NDC officially say about the fight against galamsey, and what promises were made before winning power?
- Has any leading member of NDC made the pronouncement of a state of emergency in opposition, just before the 2024 elections?
In the heat of the 2024 election campaign, President John Mahama, then-NDC presidential candidate, had made several utterances in respect of fighting illegal small-scale mining or “galamsey.”
In May 2024, while as a guest speaker at the 3rd Annual Transformation Dialogue on Small-scale Mining, organised by the University of Energy and Natural Resources, candidate Mahama, outlined several interventions his government would implement to resolve the ‘galamsey’ crisis. These interventions, however, did not include declaring a state of emergency on the menace.
“One of the impacts of illegal mining, including galamsey, has been the destruction of forests and cocoa farms. We will prevent the destruction of cocoa farms for mining and effectively ban the issuance of entry permits into forests. Mining in water bodies will be outrightly prohibited.
“The aggressive approach adopted in recent times has proven unsustainable. It has only helped worsen the fight against galamsey and led to a situation where some political actors and their task force teams profit from the arrangement,” he said.
In September 2024, while speaking on Adom FM’s morning show Dwaso Nsem, NDC National Chairman, Johnson Aseidu Nketiah, criticised the then government of Nana Akufo-Addo for failing to fight ‘galamsey’. But he also pointed out that banning the mining activity entirely should not be the solution.
“The government’s role in managing the system is poor. Banning it completely is not the way to go, but ensuring that natural resources are exploited in a responsible manner,” he said (here).
NDC manifesto and 120-day social contract
The NDC, in the lead up to the 2024 elections launched its manifesto and a separate document known as the 120-day social contract.
The manifesto included a set of policies that the government intended to implement when it wins power while the 120-day social contract is a document that outlined a 26-point plan the NDC had promised to implement in its first 120 days in office.
GhanaFact had previously fact-checked the government’s achievement of promises made in the 120-day social contract. Find our reports here, here, and here.
In the NDC 2024 Resetting Ghana manifesto, illegal mining is mentioned 7 times. However, the document does not state the party’s plan to declare a state of emergency on galasmey.
Even in the party’s 120-day social contract, there was also no mention of declaring a state of emergency, although several intervention policies such as banning illegal and new mining activities in forest reserves were mentioned.
The galamsey state of emergency calls heightened in 2024 in the runup to the December general elections. Multiple civil society organizations led by the Trade Union Congress (TUC) made the call on the government.
Other organizations that made a similar call were the Ghana Medical Association, Media Coalition Against Galamsey, The Ghana Federation of Labour, Kasa Initiative Ghana, The Ghana Catholic Bishop’s Conference, The Christian Council of Ghana, The Office of the Chief Imam.
Conclusion
The conversation about illegal mining (galamsey) remains a growing national concern. While it appears the NDC in opposition had made several pronouncements about galamsey, the party had not been specific about declaring a state of emergency on the menace.
