In the last couple of months, the conversation about illegal small-scale mining (galamsey) has intensified, especially as calls grow for the John Dramani Mahama-led administration to declare a state of emergency to curb the menace.
The discussion has evolved into the debate about how effectively the governments of the two main political parties, the National Democratic Congress (NDC) and the New Patriotic Party (NPP), have addressed the issue of galamsey.
The Director of Communications for the Bawumia Campaign, Dennis Miracles Aboagye, has on two occasions on Joy News’ NewsFile programme put up a strong defence for Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo’s efforts at fighting galamsey.
“Akufo-Addo remains the only president, since the kind of galamsey we are seeing today popped up, which includes the current president during his time in the first term, that was able to show proof of concept. That, indeed, if we put certain steps in place, we could clear our water bodies, it is Akufo-Addo.
“None of them, Mahama couldn’t do it, Prof Atta Mills could not do it, it was Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo that showed that our water could clean up,” he said (between 8:04 and 8:20 of the programme, archived here).
During another programme on Joy Prime, a member of the NPP communications team, Awal Mohammed, reiterated similar viewpoints. “President Akufo-Addo had fought galamsey than any leader in the history of this country. This is a fact,” he said (from 1:13:26 to 1:13:32 programme, archived here).
RelatedNews
What were former President Akufo-Addo administration’s successes and failures at resolving the galamsey crisis?
The Akufo-Addo era (from 2017-2025)
Akufo-Addo took office in 2017 to begin his first term in office as President of the Republic of Ghana. The beginning of that first term came with pressure from civil society and a media coalition, urging his government to end galamsey, as Akufo-Addo himself during campaigns in 2016 had promised to responsibly reduce the pollution to river bodies (here, here and here).
Small-scale mining banned for 20 months
In March 2017, the government announced a ban on small-scale mining, as one of its first interventions against illegal mining. This ban was supposed to last for six months. But it took until December 2018 (almost 20 months) for the ban to be lifted ( here and here).
In support of the fight against illegal mining, the privately-led Media Coalition Against Galamsey was formed in April 2017. It was an alliance between the Graphic Communications Group, the Ghana Independent Broadcasters Association (GIBA), the Ghana Journalists Association (GJA), the Private Newspaper Publishers Association (PRINPAG), and other media houses.
The group remained the voice that mounted pressure on the Akufo-Addo administration to resolve the galamsey crisis, especially through campaigns such as “National Red Friday.” (here, and here).
As these campaigns reached their height, President Nana Akufo-Addo made an infamous statement in July 2017, suggesting he would fight the menace with the full force of his presidency.
“I have said it in the cabinet, and perhaps this is the first time I am making this public, that I am prepared to put my Presidency on the line on this matter,” he said at a workshop in Accra (here, and here).
Operation Vanguard launched
Not long after this statement, the government launched “Operation Vanguard”, an anti-galamsey task force, and also its first security approach to fighting the menace.
This task force of 400 personnel from the Ghana Armed Forces (GAF) and the Police Service, was divided into three groups to cover the Ashanti, Eastern and Western regions – areas the government considered most affected by the activities of illegal miners.
IMCIM secretariat commissioned
In December 2017, while speaking at the commissioning of the Secretariat on the Interministerial Committee on Illegal Mining (IMCIM), President Akufo-Addo described the activities of Operation Vanguard as a success, even though he noted there had been a few challenges.
“Launching of operation Vanguard on 21st July 2017, a force comprising officers and men from the military police service tasked to prevent further pollution of water bodies and land degradation. Operation Vanguard has so far been a huge success,” he said (here, and here).
His appraisal of Operation Vanguard was further reiterated in the 2020 State of the Nation’s Address.
“Operation Vanguard has been largely successful, even though problems still remain. Mining with impunity on water bodies and in forest reserves has declined. More than four thousand (4,000) miners have received training in sustainable mining.
“The number of individuals dying in collapsed mining tunnels and pits in the few unauthorised locations left has reduced by more than ninety per cent (90%). Operation Vanguard has been particularly effective in helping to restore the order which has permitted the reopening of the famous Obuasi mine of Anglogold Ashanti,” he said.
However, in May 2021, the administration dissolved the activities of Operation Vanguard (here and here). This came amid criticisms from small-scale miners over harassment by task forces deployed to fight galamsey.
Galamstop, Operation Halt and other interventions
From 2019 onwards, the Akufo-Addo government launched more interventions against galamsey activities during its eight-year tenure.
GalamStop, a word coined from the words ‘Galamsey and Stop,’ was launched in 2019 by then Minister for Environment, Science and Technology, Prof Frimpong Boateng (here, here, and here). According to Frimpong Boateng, GalamStop was not a task force, but a platform embedded with GPS software that allowed regulatory agencies to, among others, facilitate processes with mining licences and concessions.
“This system came to eliminate all the time-consuming and manual operational processes and provides real-time updates on mining company information and licence application/acquisition processes through the use of combined web-based technologies,” the former minister wrote in a report in 2021 (here).
The government again launched a similar initiative, like the Operation Vanguard, in May 2021. This was called ‘Operation Halt,’ a special military operation responsible for removing persons and logistics involved in mining Ghana’s water bodies. A second phase of this operation was renewed in October 2022.
More anti-galamsey-related initiatives were launched in 2022, including the introduction of patrol boats to fight illegal miners on river bodies and a gold Katcha programme intended to facilitate responsible small-scale mining (here, here, and here).
In November 2017, an Afrobarometer report indicated that a majority of Ghanaians disapproved of illegal mining, with an overwhelming 80% supporting interventions for alternative livelihoods for those engaged in illegal mining.
On the back of this report, the Akufo-Addo administration in October 2021 launched the National Alternative Employment and Livelihood Programme for Illegal Miners (here and here).
The government, however, began identifying cracks in its fight against galamsey when controversies emerged over the involvement of the elite and politically connected individuals in illegal mining.
The former Secretary to the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Illegal Mining (IMCIM), Charles Bissue, was indicted in an exposé by investigative journalist Anas Aremeyaw Anas, in a documentary titled “Galamsey Fraud.”
“After one full month of work, we found security officials and responsible members of the IMCIM flouting due process and engaging in corrupt activities for selfish gain,” Anas said in a Facebook post in 2019, when Part 1 of the documentary was released (here and here).
The IMCIM was later dissolved in January 2021, and all activities related to fighting galamsey were moved from the Ministry of Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation to the Lands and Natural Resources Ministry.
The Frimpong Boateng report: Interference and the involvement of politically-connected individuals in ‘galamsey’
In March 2021, the former Minister of Environment, Science and Technology, Professor Frimpong Boateng, submitted to the president, through the Chief of Staff, a report that detailed the work undertaken by the dissolved IMCIM.
The report covered the various interventions the committee had undertaken, including setbacks and political interference from Members of Parliament, party members, and some appointees of the Nana Akufo-Addo government.
The issues in the Frimpong Boateng report included the following:
- Regulatory lapses and corruption by the Minerals Commission and Forestry Commission fueled illegal mining.
- Despite a 2019 Cabinet directive to the Lands Minister to suspend new and 47 already issued licences for mining in forest reserves, the directive was ignored. The report noted that those who engaged in the forest reserves were rich miners who had engaged Chinese nationals in their operations.
- Ghana Army personnel were seen providing security at illegal mining sites. The minister also noted that Gabby Asare Otchere Darko, a close family member of President Akufo-Addo, had called him to defend a company mining in the Apaprama Kobro Forests.
- The Forestry Commission refused to use the GalamStop software, while the Minerals Commission used “it halfheartedly.” The report mentions the late Forestry Commission boss, Kwadwo Owusu Afriyie, also known as Sir John, as having given forest entry permits to mining companies, including foreign nationals, for prospecting activities even when the President had placed a ban on those activities.
- A former NPP MP for Manso-Nkwanta, Joseph Albert Quarm, was named to have used his position as a board member of the Minerals Commission to acquire large-scale concessions in his district. Government appointees at the Jubilee House were also named to have supported illegal mining or interfered with the fight against the menace.
- A former NDC Deputy Minister, who at the time was an MP for the Wassa East Constituency, was said to have been actively mining in the Subri Forest reserve for years.
Although the report was not originally made public, aspects of the document were later published by news portals here, here, here, and here.
Passage of L.I. 2462
Another low moment in the fight against galamsey by the Akufo-Addo government involved the passage of L.I. 2462, also known as the ‘Environmental Protection (Mining in Forest Reserves) Regulations’ in 2022.
This legislation permitted limited mining of not more than 2% of timber production reserves. Many civil society actors had criticised the government over the passage of this legislation and continually urged that it should be taken off the country’s legal books.
Anti-galamsey protests and the calls for a declaration of a state of emergency
In 2024, just months before the general election, there were renewed calls and pressure on the Akufo-Addo government to deal with the problem of ‘galamsey.’
Organised Labour had threatened a nationwide strike after it gave the Akufo-Addo government a deadline to end galamsey and declare a state of emergency on the menace. The Universities Teachers Association of Ghana (UTAG), and some notable members of the NPP also, asked for similar demands (here, here, and here).
Eventually, the strike by the labour unions was called off after the President held talks with its leaders. Even before these demands by the labour unions, several groups had protested against the menace. Most notably, the #StopGalamseyNow and #ReoccupyJulorbiHouse protests in September 2024 had rallied around the galamsey crisis as one of its main topics for the demonstration.
Timeline of some major events
| Incident | Date |
| Ban on small-scale mining | March 2017 |
| Media Coalition Against Galamsey formed | April 2017 |
| Killing of Major Mahama by a mob at Denkyira Obuasi | May 2017 |
| Operation Vanguard launched | July 2017 |
| Interministerial Committee on Illegal Mining (IMCIM) | Dec 2017 |
| Galamstop launched | May 2019 |
| IMCIM dissolved | January 2021 |
| Prof Frimpong Boateng’s report submitted | March 2021 |
| Operation Halt launched | May 2021 |
| National Alternative Employment and Livelihood Programme | October 2021 |
| Operation Halt 2 | October 2022 |
| Akufo-Addo meets House of Chiefs, MMDCEs in Kumasi over galamsey | October 2022 |
| Passage of L.I. 2462 | June 2022 |
| Akufo-Addo calls for swift adjudication of galamsey cases | October 2023 |
| Government announces steps to revoke L.I. 2462 | October 2023 |
| Akufo-Addo meets organized labour over call to ban galamsey | October 2024 |
Conclusion
President Nana Akufo-Addo’s legacy in combating illegal mining is well documented, especially during his eight-year tenure, the government introduced several interventions to solve the menace. But his inability to live up to the bold declarations he made to end the crisis reveals the levels of failure from the political class.
Researched by Gifty Danso
