{"id":102895,"date":"2025-11-11T21:07:32","date_gmt":"2025-11-11T21:07:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/?p=102895"},"modified":"2025-11-11T21:07:32","modified_gmt":"2025-11-11T21:07:32","slug":"government-isnt-ready-to-fight-galamsey-criminologist","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/?p=102895","title":{"rendered":"Government isn\u2019t ready to fight galamsey \u2013 Criminologist"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n \t<\/i> Read Time:<\/span>2 Minute, 52 Second <\/div>\n\n <\/div>
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A Criminologist and lecturer at KNUST, Dr. Jones Opoku-Ware, says that the government is not ready to fight the illegal mining, locally known as galamsey.<\/p>\n

According to him, the country\u2019s failure to confront galamsey head-on shows a lack of readiness and political will at the highest level of leadership.<\/p>\n

He noted that under Article 257(6) of the 1992 Constitution, all minerals in their natural state, whether in the soil, rivers, or public land, belong to the Republic of Ghana and are vested in the President to hold in trust for the people. Yet the persistence and growing sophistication of illegal mining expose a widening gap between constitutional responsibility and governmental action.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese are not ordinary people. They are heavily armed, well organized, and backed by powerful sponsors, some within the political system itself,\u201d Dr. Opoku-Ware told Luv FM. <\/p>\n

\u201cWhen security agencies flee, it signals that the state is powerless. The moment the state retreats, it tells these groups they are stronger than Ghana.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to Dr. Opoku-Ware, illegal miners now operate like a mafia-style cartel, thus highly structured networks that mobilize around common interests and intimidate communities and enforcement agencies.<\/p>\n

Political protection and interference, he said, have become major obstacles, leaving security personnel uncertain about who truly backs their operations.<\/p>\n

Even joint teams made up of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the military, he revealed, have been forced to abandon operations when confronted by armed miners.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn one recent operation, the EPA team was meant to close shops supplying galamsey operators. Intelligence was provided, but the team was not fully prepared for the terrain or the level of resistance. They had to retreat, sending a very bad signal across the country about the state\u2019s weakness,\u201d he explained.<\/p>\n

Dr. Opoku-Ware believes these setbacks point to deeper institutional non-readiness in a government that knows the threat but lacks the coordinated structure, resources, and courage to act decisively.<\/p>\n

A major element of this challenge, he said, is the proliferation of sophisticated weapons among illegal miners. The Small Arms Commission estimates that millions of firearms are in private hands nationwide, many of them used to secure mining sites or intimidate officers.<\/p>\n

\u201cAlmost every illegal miner arrested has a weapon. Some even display guns at funerals to show power. If we don\u2019t stop them now, these same guns will soon be turned on us,\u201d warned the Criminologist.<\/p>\n

He also questioned the strategy of sending unarmed EPA officers who are not trained for combat to close mining sites, describing it as a symbol of poor planning and a lack of seriousness in the government\u2019s anti-galamsey strategy.<\/p>\n

Beyond the immediate security concerns, Dr. Opoku-Ware warned that the infiltration of political and business elites into illegal mining makes the problem far more complex. Intelligence leaks, protection rackets, and internal sabotage have made enforcement almost impossible.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe government must stop playing lip service. If we don\u2019t act within the next few years, these networks could grow powerful enough to challenge the authority of the state itself,\u201d he cautioned.<\/p>\n

He added that until the government demonstrates the capacity to resource its institutions, shield enforcement from political influence, and prosecute offenders regardless of status, Ghana\u2019s illegal mining crisis will persist.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe minerals belong to the people,\u201d Dr. Opoku-Ware emphasized. \u201cThe state has the power to protect them, but so far, it has refused to use it.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\"Government A Criminologist and lecturer at KNUST, Dr. Jones Opoku-Ware, says that the government is not ready to fight the illegal mining, locally known as galamsey.<\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":{"facebook_2277560469115098_106292521332774":"","twitter_aToxNzczMzI3Njk4OTg4ODUxMjAxOw==_1773327698988851200":""},"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[12344,196,1883,10,9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-102895","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-dr-jones-opoku-ware","category-galamsey","category-national","category-politics","category-popular"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/102895","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=102895"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/102895\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=102895"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=102895"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=102895"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}