Convenor of the One Ghana Movement, Senyo Hosi, says successive governments may face significant challenges in decisively addressing illegal mining, popularly known as galamsey, given Ghana’s current political and economic environment. Mr Hosi argued that illegal mining had become deeply entrenched in the country’s political and economic structures, making it difficult for political leaders to implement the measures necessary to tackle the practice.
Speaking in an interview with Bernard Avle on Channel One TV’s The Point of View on Wednesday, September 30, Mr Hosi said he did not believe a future administration led by New Patriotic Party (NPP) flagbearer Dr Mahamudu Bawumia or other prominent political figures would have the political capacity required to confront the problem effectively.
“There’s no way a Dr Mahamudu Bawumia government, there’s no way a whoever government, Asiedu Nketiah, Julius Debrah, Dr Ato Forson, all of them, forget it. They don’t have the capacity to deal with it at this time. No. Let me put it this way: they don’t have political capacity,” he said.
He explained that by “political capacity”, he meant the ability of a political leader to pursue a policy objective despite competing interests within their political party and the potential political consequences of doing so. “I also still use political capacity because no matter how singular your interest is, you still fit within a broader institution, which is your party,” he said.
Mr Hosi said he did not expect Ghana to have a political leader with the capacity to take the kind of decisive action needed to address galamsey in the immediate future.
“We don’t have that kind of leader now, and I don’t think we will have any of it in the next 10 or 5 or 12 years,” he added.
He argued that political leaders were also constrained by the need to retain support within their parties and communities where illegal mining has become an important source of livelihood. Mr Hosi attributed the continued persistence of galamsey to what he described as increasing social and political acceptance of the practice.
He called for stronger public education and deeper community engagement to build local support for efforts to combat illegal mining. “We should stop it. But the easiest thing to do, to call for us to stop it, has it been stopped?” he asked.
Mr Hosi noted that civil society organisations and other stakeholders had previously worked with communities to build support for measures aimed at tackling illegal mining. He urged that such initiatives be strengthened and expanded. “If the communities bought into the idea that galamsey was not socially tolerated, it would politically not be tolerated,” he said.
He also alleged that illegal mining operators were becoming increasingly involved in Ghana’s political processes, including financing political activities and directly entering politics. According to him, the problem had evolved beyond social influence to what he described as political capture.
“What is getting worse now is that galamsey has not just become something that you have a social capture; you actually have a political capture as well,” he said. “Because galamseyers are funding our politics. Galamseyers are actually entering our politics.”
Mr Hosi warned that the growing influence of illegal mining operators within communities and political structures could have serious consequences for the country. “Galamseyers are beginning to become the government. It is just an unfortunate, progressive situation that gives us only one thing: a failed state,” he said.
