Galamsey has no link to illegal mining – MP educates Ghanaians

The Member of Parliament (MP) for Prestea Huni-Valley, Robert Wisdom Cudjoe, has explained the real meaning of the term “galamsey,” disclosing that the popular term has no connotation to illegal mining.

During an interview on Onua FM monitored by MyNewsGh.com, Robert Wisdom Cudjoe explained that the term galamsey has been misused and misunderstood.

According to him, the term galamsey is the process the small-scale miners go through to obtain the gold and later sell it. He mentioned that illegal mining has nothing to do with galamsey.

“We shouldn’t mix galamsey, small-scale mining, and illegal mining. Galamsey is the manual process through which small-scale miners obtain pure gold.

"It means ‘gather them and sell.’ So, the term ‘Galamsey’ has no connotation of illegal mining,” he explained.

He explained that Prestea Huni-Valley has been practicing traditional mining where the rocks are crushed manually without involving water bodies or destroying the forest reserves.

According to him, about 95% of miners in Prestea Huni-Valley are residents of the town, while those destroying the water bodies and forest reserves are non-citizens of the country.

The lawmaker argued that the ordinary miner does not have the finances to purchase the equipment used for the illegal mining happening now.