Not enough is being done to fight galamsey - Most Rev Fr Gyamfi

The President of the Ghana Catholic Bishops’ Conference, Most Rev Fr Matthew Kwasi Gyamfi, has called for tougher and more decisive measures to tackle illegal mining, popularly known as galamsey, warning that current efforts are inadequate.

Speaking on the Asaase Breakfast Show on Wednesday, April, 29, 2026, Most Rev Fr Gyamfi described galamsey as a growing national crisis that continues to threaten livelihoods, water bodies, forests and the country’s environmental sustainability.

He said government must move beyond existing interventions and adopt a more aggressive national response to address the menace.

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“The leadership of the country must do something more radical… what is being done now is not enough,” asaaseradio.com quoted him to have said.

According to him, the scale of destruction caused by illegal mining demands an emergency-style response similar to measures adopted during the COVID-19 pandemic, when the state mobilised significant resources to contain the outbreak.

“We should treat this as a state of emergency… bring together all resources military, police, economic to address it,” he said.

Most Rev Fr Gyamfi acknowledged that authorities have made some efforts to combat galamsey, but stressed that progress remains too slow compared to the rate at which illegal mining activities are expanding.

“You may reduce it by 10 percent, but it increases by 20 percent,” he noted.

He further argued that public education and awareness campaigns led by churches, civil society organisations and other stakeholders, although important, cannot by themselves solve the problem.

“Persuasion is not enough… the state must act decisively to stop people from destroying the nation,” he said.

AM/VPO

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