John Dramani Mahama addressing the media at the Jubilee House in Accra on Wednesday night, September 10, 2025
Source: Africa Publicity
President John Dramani Mahama has stated that it will take a lot of work to win the fight against illegal gold mining in Ghana popularly known as galamsey.
According to him, overcoming galamsey is a process, not an even.
He said the “decay” caused in the mining sector over the last eight years of the former President Nana Akufo-Addo’s administration was deep and a lot needs to be done to sanitize the mining sector in Ghana.
He made this known in his first media encounter from the Jubilee House in Accra on Wednesday, September 10, 2025. The President addressed journalists from across the country and international media outlets including BBC, Radio France International, among others.
He said when he was assuming power in January 2025, he was clear in his mind that the fight against galamsey would be a process and not an event, but assured that his administration will not “give up” in protecting the environment and fighting against illegal mining.
According to him, his administration is taking steps to protect the environment in Ghana.
He says “We’re taking decisive action to protect our environment and natural resources from destruction. A dedicated national task force is in place, actively combating the menace of illegal mining.”
President Mahama said “As a result of their operations, hundreds of excavators, water pumps and other heavy equipment have been seized. Disrupting the networks that have long exploited our rivers. Nine forest reserves have been reclaimed from the grips of illegal miners.”
Training
As part of sanitizing the sector, President Mahama said his government was arranging a trip for small-scale miners from Ghana to visit Australia and learn how small-scale mining is done without causing destruction to the environment.
He said due to the increase in the price of gold, a lot of people have become desperate to mine gold, saying countries like Peru were also facing destruction of their environments due to illegal gold mining.