Mahama's Galamsey Crackdown Failed Under His Leadership

Former Executive Director of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Dr. Henry Kwabena Kokofu, has indicated that President John Mahama’s initial efforts to tackle illegal small-scale mining, popularly known as galamsey, were hampered by the over-reliance on political actors rather than strengthening state institutions.

Dr. Kokofu, speaking on Citi FM on Wednesday, December 17, described President Mahama’s first term as a pivotal moment in Ghana’s fight against galamsey, acknowledging it as the first time a sitting President directly addressed the issue.

“President Mahama, in his first term, was the first president in this country to have taken the battle against galamsey head-on,” he stated.

However, Dr. Kokofu argued that the strategy, while bold, ultimately failed to yield the desired results between 2012 and 2014 due to excessive political influence and insufficient institutional enforcement.

“Between 2012 and 2014, it couldn’t work because politicians were put in the forefront,” he explained.

He pointed to the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Illegal Mining, established during that time, as a prime example of how political dominance undermined the campaign. “We had the inter-ministerial committee on galamsey, and we all saw the results,” Dr. Kokofu added, implying the outcomes were not satisfactory.

According to the former EPA boss, the experiences during that period should serve as a crucial lesson for future interventions. He stressed that lasting success in combating galamsey requires empowering independent state institutions to lead enforcement actions, free from political interference.

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