Leading member of Democracy Hub, Oliver Barker-Vormawor, has issued a three-month ultimatum to President John Dramani Mahama to revoke the over two thousand mining licenses issued by the Akufo-Addo-led government.
In a series of social media posts, the leader of the pressure group served notice that his group will take to the streets on March 6 if the president fails to take action.
“President is revoking previous appointments. All that is good. So why is he not also revoking the 2000 mining licenses Mampam gave his cronies? We cannot allow people to do legally the exact things they did illegally, under the cover of shoddy licenses. The President has a 3-month ultimatum exactly! 6th March Demonstration Loading,” he wrote.
His outburst comes on the back of a report by environmental reporter Erastus Asare Donkor, who reported on January 26, 2025, that some groups of miners sanctioned by elements of the new government remain in the Tano Anwia forest reserve and are degrading the forest by their activities.
In a subsequent post, Barker-Vormawor said the president must, as part of immediate measures to deal with illegal mining, revoke all the licenses issued under the previous government and place a moratorium on the issuance of new licenses.
“The disaster of Nana Addo’s regime, the worst this country has ever seen, managed to issue over 2000 mining licenses to cronies in 4 years, including 103 after they lost the election. Creating an ecological clusterfuck for this generation and the next. And we sit down and watch? Just saying 'oh wow' and moving on is not the appropriate response of a people at risk of having to import drinking water soon. The President must revoke all those licenses and put a moratorium on new licenses. If we can burn excavators, we can revoke licenses. Time for a major RESET in our relationship with the environment,” he wrote.
Journalist and legal practitioner Samson Lardy Ayenini has also added his voice to the demand for action, noting the devastating effects of galamsey.
“Galamsey devastation. Urgent action, not a committee, required,” he wrote on his Facebook page.
In September 2025, several members of Democracy Hub were arrested during a protest to demand government action against illegal mining, also known as galamsey.
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