By Asaase Yaa
Copyright asaaseradio
A strongly worded statement from the Ghana Catholic Bishops’ Conference (GCBC) voicing Church leaders’ frustration with government failure to clamp down on illegal mining (known as “galamsey”) has challenged President Mahama to pay more heed to growing calls for action to halt environmental destruction caused by the gold rush.
The statement, issued last night (15 September 2025) and signed by Most Rev Matthew Gyamfi, Archbishop of Sunyani and president of the GCBC, said: “… galamsey has matured into a threat to national security … Yet, in the face of this, the President of the Republic, His Excellency John Dramani Mahama, appears not to grasp the existential scale of the menace.”
The bishops pointed to complicity in the spread of galamsey.
“Disturbingly, some politicians, Members of Parliament, municipal and district chief executives, chiefs, religious figures and even members of our security services have been implicated – shielding illegal operators for personal gain, granting illicit concessions, or remaining silent when duty demands bold speech,” they said.
State of emergency
Urging President Mahama to adopt a holistic approach to illegal mining and to declare a state of emergency in those parts of the country most blighted by it, the bishops stressed how urgently Ghana must deal with what they describe as a “cancer in our … soul” that is a “betrayal of trust” destroying national identity.
Last night’s statement takes a notably harder tone than previous engagements between leaders of the Catholic Church in Ghana – still one of the country’s largest and most influential faith groupings – and President Mahama since his return to office.
While calling for better education, care for the environment and for the state to provide other ways for young people in gold-rich areas to make a living, the bishops stressed that leadership will be central to breaking galamsey’s stranglehold on Ghana.
Dazzled by money
On 9 September the head of the newly created Ghana Gold Board (GOLDBOD), the industry regulator, state-appointed trader and sole issuer of gold mining licences, announced that Ghana had exported nearly 67 tonnes of mostly raw gold from small-scale miners in the first eight months of 2025, earning an estimated $6 billion and exceeding the entire output for 2024.
Also for the first time, gold production by small-scale actors is outstripping large mines. Sources estimate year-end production for 2025 to top 51 million ounces.
Read the statement by the GCBC here:
STATEMENT OF THE GCBC ON GALAMSEY – 15-09-25
Total gold output for 2024 rose by 19.3%, making Ghana the biggest gold producer in Africa and gold the country’s single largest source of foreign exchange at 57% of export revenues.
Gold reached a record $3,673.95 per ounce on the international market on 9 September. Industry watchers suggest it could end the year at $3,800 an ounce. Soaring prices have steered the Mahama government towards extending a strategy that increasingly leverages gold production – and, with it, production by unlicensed actors.
That emphasis is cause for concern, the Catholic bishops say.
Two GCBC delegations consulted with President Mahama at Jubilee House earlier this year. “In both January and May 2025, delegations of our Conference raised these concerns [about the security threat] directly with him, only to be met with unsatisfactory responses focused narrowly on economic gain,” the bishops said.
Discussions during the January courtesy call were upbeat, anticipating a renewed energy to the direction of governance under the recently sworn-in leader.
In February the Catholic bishops and the Christian Council issued a joint statement on the need for recognition of the churches’ contribution to education in Ghana and more influence in shaping policy. The visit in May centred on the importance of peace and national cohesion.
The Coalition Against Galamsey also issued a statement yesterday calling urgently for President Mahama to “rededicate himself to the fight” against illegal mining and making references to his “narratives” and “de facto justifications” for galamsey.
“The hour is late,” the bishops declared in last night’s statement. “Delay is betrayal. Now, not tomorrow, not later, is the time to act.”
Read the statement from the Coalition on Galamsey here:
The President Must Re-dedicate to the Fight Against the Galamsey Crisis
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