Galamsey: Prof Bokpin calls for national review of fight against illegal mining

Economist Professor Godfred Bokpin has called for a national review of the Mahama administration’s fight against illegal mining, arguing that the government’s response appears inadequate compared with the scale of destruction caused by galamsey.

Speaking on JoyNews’ Newsfile on Saturday, October 31, 2026, he said Ghana needed to assess whether the government was achieving the targets it set for tackling irresponsible mining rather than focusing mainly on arrests and equipment seizures.

“We need to ask ourselves: what were the clear targets we set for ourselves as a country when the new administration took over, in terms of how it wanted to respond to irresponsible mining?” he asked.

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Prof Bokpin questioned whether the number of arrests and equipment seized provided a sufficient measure of progress, stressing the need to evaluate the objectives and milestones set by the government.

“Are we looking at it just in terms of the number of arrests, changfans and all of that? What were the goals? What were the targets? What were the objectives? The milestones?” he questioned.

With President John Dramani Mahama more than a year and a half into his term, the economist said the time had come for a comprehensive assessment of the government’s efforts and whether the measures introduced were producing the desired results.

“I think President Mahama has been in office for more than one and a half years; we should have a national review. Are we on track? Is that all we ask for the government to do? Is that all that the government will be able to achieve within one and a half years?” he quizzed.

Prof Bokpin maintained that the government’s interventions did not match the severity of the environmental damage caused by illegal mining.

He also suggested that the state’s own involvement in the problem could be hindering efforts to address it effectively.

“This is only so because the State itself, my considered view, is that the State itself is complicit in this matter. The State may be playing a facilitating role in all of this,” he said.

NA/AM