The Minority in Parliament has accused President John Mahama’s government of lacking the political will to tackle illegal mining, insisting that the galamsey crisis has worsened under his leadership.
In a statement signed by the Ranking Member on the Lands and Natural Resources Committee, Kwaku Ampratwum-Sarpong, the group described the President’s recent meeting with selected Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) as a mere publicity gimmick intended to mask the administration’s failures.
According to the Minority, the government’s responses during the engagement downplayed the severity of what they called a looming national disaster.
They noted that water bodies continue to record rising turbidity levels, farmlands and food crops are increasingly contaminated, and forest reserves are being destroyed at an alarming rate.
The Caucus cited a recent joint report by Pure Earth and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), which confirmed heavy environmental pollution.
Against this backdrop, they described it as shocking that President Mahama could still claim he was winning the fight against illegal mining.
“Instead of taking decisive action, this government is hiding behind propaganda to deceive Ghanaians,” the statement said.
The Minority further accused the Mahama administration of simply renaming and recycling interventions introduced under the Akufo-Addo government, without demonstrating genuine commitment to the cause.
They recalled that under Akufo-Addo, key initiatives such as the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Illegal Mining, the Operation Vanguard security task force, reforms at the University of Mines and Technology in Tarkwa to train miners, and amendments to the Minerals and Mining Act to strengthen sanctions were all introduced to address the menace.
The statement concluded that the government’s current approach amounts to propaganda over substance, warning that without bold and consistent leadership, illegal mining will continue to wreak havoc on Ghana’s environment, food security, and public health.
The group said these interventions helped the previous government gain control over the problem before leaving office, but the Mahama administration had abandoned them.
It pointed to the current rebranding of “Red Zones” as “security zones” and “Operation Halt II” as “NAIMOS,” accusing the government of playing semantics instead of acting.
The statement warned that Ghana is facing escalating health and environmental dangers, with dangerously high turbidity levels, damaged food and water sources, and forests turning into mining enclaves.
It said these are pressing realities that endanger lives and threaten national sustainability.
The Minority called on civil society, the clergy, traditional leaders, and all stakeholders to speak out as they did in the past.
It urged the President to move beyond rhetoric and show real political will, insisting that the fight against illegal mining can only be won through bold, consistent, and effective action.
Anything less, it said, would be a grave abdication of duty to the people of Ghana and future generations.
