 left their recent meeting with President John Dramani Mahama without any clear timelines or measurable targets for tackling illegal mining, popularly known as galamsey.){kind=link}
A leading member of the Media Coalition Against Galamsey, Dr. Kenneth Ashigbey, has expressed disappointment that Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) left their recent meeting with President John Dramani Mahama without any clear timelines or measurable targets for tackling illegal mining, popularly known as galamsey.
Dr. Ashigbey, who is also the Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Chamber of Telecommunications, said although the President discussed the government’s approach and possible triggers for declaring a state of emergency in the galamsey fight, the discussions lacked specificity and accountability benchmarks.
“The format of the program did not get that opportunity, so we did not get the clear milestones and we did not get clear timelines,” Dr. Ashigbey said on JoyNews’ PM Express on Sunday, October 6.
President Mahama met with representatives of Civil Society Organisations at the Jubilee House on October 3, 2025, urging them to intensify advocacy and keep the government under pressure to sustain efforts in ending illegal mining.
The engagement followed growing criticism from environmental groups and policy advocates who say the government’s response to the crisis has been too slow and inconsistent, despite repeated pledges to end the menace.
Dr. Ashigbey revealed that the Coalition had gone into the meeting with specific questions for the President — including what would trigger a state of emergency, the timelines for interventions, and how success would be measured — but did not get the opportunity to ask them.
“Looking at what the Lands Minister did, we should bear in mind that there was a presentation he made before our turn. In his concluding slide, there were a few issues that had timelines, but the majority of them did not,” he explained.
According to Dr. Ashigbey, even in the President’s responses, key details were missing, particularly regarding enforcement mechanisms and accountability at the local level.
“The President, who was responding to the issues he did address, was only talking about what would result in him declaring a state of emergency. The only way we heard was that it is his National Security chiefs who are failing us. And so we did not get all the timelines from that again,” he said.
He also lamented the absence of discussion on the responsibility of local authorities and traditional leaders, noting that some chiefs and District Chief Executives (DCEs) continue to enable illegal mining activities in their jurisdictions.
“On the issues of chiefs and the fact that the good ones are preventing galamsey from happening, and those who are not should be held responsible — that did not come up,” Dr. Ashigbey stated.