Ghana's Anti-Galamsey Campaign Has Collapsed — Time for a Radical Rethink, Says Activist

Ghana's fight against illegal small-scale mining — commonly known as galamsey — has failed, and the country must abandon its current enforcement-heavy approach in favour of a comprehensive strategy that tackles the economic and political forces keeping the practice alive. That is the blunt assessment of Senyo Hosi, Convener of the OneGhana Movement and Trustee of the Ghana Coalition Against Galamsey, who made the remarks during an appearance on JoyNews' Newsfile programme on Saturday.

"The fight against galamsey has failed. We should stop going around the bush. It has failed," Mr Hosi declared, in comments that are likely to reignite a long-running national debate about how best to protect Ghana's rivers, forests and farmlands from the destruction caused by unregulated mining activity.

Why raids and military deployments have not worked

Mr Hosi's core argument is that successive governments have leaned too heavily on enforcement — raids, military deployments and equipment seizures — without addressing the underlying incentives that make galamsey so persistent. He pointed to incidents in which community members have physically confronted security personnel during anti-galamsey operations, including a case in which a soldier lost his life, as evidence that force alone cannot resolve a problem this deeply embedded in local economies.

His position is that where mining has become a primary source of income for entire communities, sending in security forces without offering credible alternatives simply displaces people temporarily before they return to the same activity. The scale of economic interests involved — spanning ordinary miners, local traders, equipment suppliers and, critically, politically connected individuals — makes military-style action insufficient as a standalone tool.

He also argued that technology and corrective financial mechanisms must be introduced to strip away the economic incentives driving illegal mining, moving the conversation beyond the question of simply formalising existing operations.

What this means for Ghana's politics and environment

Perhaps the most pointed part of Mr Hosi's argument concerns political will. He suggested that the reason Ghana's anti-galamsey drive has consistently fallen short is not a lack of capacity but a lack of genuine political commitment. Politicians at various levels, he implied, benefit directly or indirectly from the galamsey economy and are therefore reluctant to take the decisive steps needed to dismantle it.

"If you want to win this, you will win it. The only thing is that it comes at a certain cost. Politicians will not want to pay," he said.

The environmental stakes could hardly be higher. Ghana's water bodies — including the Pra, Birim and Offin rivers — have suffered severe degradation from illegal mining activities over the past two decades. Farmlands in the Western, Ashanti and Eastern regions have been left scarred, and the long-term damage to the country's agricultural base and drinking water supply represents a slow-moving crisis with serious public health implications.

Ghana has attempted several high-profile anti-galamsey initiatives over the years, including Operation Vanguard and the inter-ministerial committee approach under various administrations, yet illegal mining has continued to expand rather than contract. Mr Hosi's critique is that none of these initiatives addressed the structural conditions — poverty, political patronage, inadequate land governance — that allow galamsey to thrive.

What a new approach must include

Mr Hosi outlined the broad contours of what a more effective strategy would look like. It must, he said, provide genuine alternative livelihoods for communities whose economies have become dependent on mining. It must introduce technology-driven monitoring and financial disincentives that make illegal mining economically unattractive. And it must be accompanied by political decisions that are prepared to confront powerful vested interests, even when doing so carries electoral risk.

• Community economic development programmes must run alongside any enforcement effort.
• Technology-based monitoring of mining zones should replace or supplement periodic military raids.
• Political actors who benefit from the galamsey economy must face accountability measures.

The call for a fundamental reset comes as Ghana's new administration settles into office and faces mounting pressure from civil society and environmental groups to deliver tangible progress on an issue that has frustrated the country for years. Whether the government will heed Mr Hosi's warning — or repeat the enforcement cycles of the past — remains to be seen.