The cancer of High-Tech Galamsey (HTG) in Ghana has reached unbearable proportions. What began years ago as small-scale unauthorized mining has now morphed into a full-blown, high-tech, militarized assault on our rivers, forests, farmlands, and protected areas. The scale of destruction being carried out under the nose of regulators, sometimes in broad daylight, is not just shocking, it is unacceptable.
Since the introduction of LI 2462 in 2022 under the former Akufo-Addo-led administration, galamsey has grown bolder, more coordinated, and more devastating. This Legislative Instrument (LI) has become a loophole, a shield under which illegal actors hide while wreaking havoc across the country. The LI has failed the people of Ghana. It has failed the environment. It has failed future generations.
The repeal of LI 2462 is not only necessary, but it is urgent! First, it gives the current administration an opportunity to demonstrate leadership and environmental responsibility by scrapping a policy that emboldens illegal mining under the guise of legal operation. Secondly, repealing LI 2462 clears the way for a better, smarter, and stricter regulatory framework that truly governs small-scale mining and prioritizes environmental stewardship.
The devastation is visible and ongoing. Forest reserves, biodiversity-rich landscapes, river systems, and sacred natural sites are torn apart with excavators and washed in mercury and other heavy metals. Entire communities are now surrounded by poisoned water, collapsed farmland, and craters where forests once stood. We cannot continue to allow such environmental injustice to unfold with impunity.
Ghana is facing a climate crisis. Global warming is accelerating, rainfall patterns are becoming more erratic, and extreme weather is increasing. Our forests and rivers are not just resources, they are buffers against climate shocks, lifelines for agriculture, and sources of clean water for millions. When we destroy them, we weaken our ability to survive the climate emergency unfolding before our eyes.
This is why CFA-Climate Frontier Advocacy is also calling for the immediate declaration of a state of emergency in Galamsey-affected areas. A state of emergency will create space for comprehensive environmental assessments, tighter security coordination, community-based monitoring, and stronger law enforcement. It will send a powerful signal that this government is not just talking about ending Galamsey, but it is acting.
But we must be honest with ourselves: repealing LI 2462 alone will not solve this problem. HTG is deeply entrenched. It thrives on political inaction, regulatory corruption, and weak enforcement. We need more than a policy change; we need a national mindset shift. The Mahama-led administration must pair legislative reform with sustained action, inter-agency cooperation, and community empowerment. Galamsey will not stop until the system that allows it to flourish is dismantled.
CFA-Climate Frontier Advocacy acknowledges some positive steps taken so far by the current administration, especially within a short time in office. These efforts are commendable. But the work ahead is enormous, and it demands political courage, long-term commitment, and grassroots involvement. We require a national movement, one that prioritizes people and planet over profit.
This generation cannot afford to fail the next. Our children and grandchildren deserve clean water, fertile lands, and healthy forests. They deserve a Ghana that thrives, not one that bleeds its wealth from poisoned rivers and barren pits. We owe them a future.
The time to act is now, as the current government has the goodwill from Ghanaians to tackle this environmental threat to our survival and climate health head-on. The Mahama-led government should immediately repeal LI 2462 and declare a state of emergency against the HTG operations now to end this menace for good.
Signed
Dr. John-Baptist Naah
Executive Director & Founder
CFA-Climate Frontier Advocacy LBG
[email protected]
Cc: All Media Houses
