{"id":98972,"date":"2025-10-17T11:59:04","date_gmt":"2025-10-17T11:59:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/?p=98972"},"modified":"2025-10-17T11:59:04","modified_gmt":"2025-10-17T11:59:04","slug":"anti-galamsey-fight-must-target-political-elites-not-poor-miners-national-coalition-on-mining-warns","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/?p=98972","title":{"rendered":"Anti-galamsey fight must target political elites, not poor miners \u2013 National Coalition on Mining warns"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n \t<\/i> Read Time:<\/span>2 Minute, 46 Second <\/div>\n\n <\/div>
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The National Coalition on Mining (NCOM) has reacted to the high-profile anti-galamsey dialogue convened by President John Dramani Mahama at the Jubilee House on Friday, October 3, describing the initiative as commendable but cautioning against selective engagement and continued complicity at the top.<\/p>\n

The meeting, which brought together over 50 civil society organisations (CSOs) and religious leaders, was hailed by the Presidency as an opportunity for \u201cfrank and constructive dialogue\u201d on Ghana\u2019s long-standing illegal mining menace.<\/p>\n

Though not among those invited, the NCOM said it followed the event closely and welcomed the President\u2019s renewed resolve to intensify the fight against galamsey. However, it warned that the government\u2019s historical record of corruption, exclusion of grassroots voices, and reliance on force-based tactics could derail progress.<\/p>\n

President Mahama had described the anti-galamsey campaign as a \u201cprocess\u201d he is determined to see through to victory, a statement NCOM acknowledged as a strong signal of political will.<\/p>\n

However, the Coalition contextualised this within what it called two decades of \u201cfutile militarised repression\u201d under both NDC and NPP administrations, from Operation Flush Out in 2005 to Operation Halt in 2024.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have been treading the futile road of blunt militarised repression for 20 years. Lives have been lost, rights trampled, and legal businesses destroyed,\u201d NCOM stated.<\/p>\n

The Coalition argued that galamsey is not merely a legal or security issue but a reflection of deep political, economic, and institutional failures. It cited the abuse of Section 18(1) of the Minerals and Mining Act, 2006 (Act 703), which permits mining in forest reserves under certain conditions, a provision the group said has been exploited by politically connected individuals.<\/p>\n

According to NCOM, powerful figures, including businessmen, chiefs, state officials, and even celebrities, form the \u201cheads of the galamsey snake,\u201d enriching themselves while perpetuating environmental destruction.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese are the heads of the galamsey snake\u2026 Their wealth and influence have corrupted public institutions and paralysed political will,\u201d the Coalition declared.<\/p>\n

NCOM insisted that any credible strategy must confront these elite interests while addressing the socio-economic desperation that drives poor and unemployed youth into galamsey. It proposed job creation, rural development, a moratorium on new large-scale mining concessions, reform of artisanal small-scale mining (ASM) regulations, and limits on the powers of corrupt traditional authorities.<\/p>\n