President Nana Akufo-Addo has maintained that depoliticizing the issue of galamsey is the way to help tackle the menace.

Delivering his final ‘State of the Nation’ address to the 7th Parliament, the president said “we have to talk about galamsey. We need to have an honest conversation about our future”.

Ghana today is recognised as the second-largest gold producer in Africa. It is the undisputed mining hub of West Africa, and is dominated by two main gold mining sectors: the large scale mining sector (LSM) and small-scale or artisanal small-scale mining (SSM/ASM). Within the small-scale gold mining sector is “galamsey”, a local term used in Ghana for illegal or unregulated gold mining operations.

Illegal gold mining operations are criticised heavily throughout Ghana due to their detrimental environmental effects, which many believe outweigh any possible economic and cultural justifications.

The number of galamseyers in Ghana is unknown, but believed to be from 20,000 to 50,000, including thousands from China.

The Information Minister, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah recently claimed there are now 200,000 people engaged in galamsey, and according to other sources, there are nearly 3 million who rely on it for their livelihoods.