By Ghana News
Copyright ghanamma
Since President Mahama engaged the media in his maiden encounter with the press on September 10, 2025, many have raised concerns about how he answered questions on the fight against galamsey, which was a central campaign message in the 2024 electioneering period.
President John Dramani Mahama has come under intense pressure from netizens urging him to take decisive action against the dreaded menace of illegal mining, commonly known as galamsey, in the country.
Latest to join the crusade is the Catholic Bishops’ Conference, pointing out that the canker is destroying the nation’s environment and eroding the early gains made by the government.
The grievances of the Bishops were contained in a statement signed and issued on Monday, September 15, 2025, by the President of the Ghana Catholic Bishops’ Conference, Most Rev Matthew Kwasi Gyamfi, who is also the Bishop of Sunyani.
The conference stated that “Illegal and unregulated mining, commonly known as galamsey, has become one of the gravest afflictions of our time. It ravages our rivers and forests, poisons our soil, endangers public health, corrupts governance, erodes our moral fibre and extinguishes livelihoods.”
According to the Bishops, Ghana’s once-pristine rivers, such as the Pra, Ankobra, Birim, Offin and Ayensu, which were revered in the past, are now polluted beyond recognition, with unimaginable turbidity levels.
Galamsey Fight: ‘I feel more hopeless after listening to Mahama’ – Azure speaks out
They emphasised that galamasey has become “a cancer in our national soul” because “The poisons of mining seep silently into our food chain, breeding cancers, skin diseases, kidney failure, and neurological disorders.”
They alleged that major stakeholders who are supposed to fight it have become accomplices, saying, “Disturbingly, some politicians, Members of Parliament, Municipal and District Chief Executives, chiefs, religious figures and even members of our security services have been implicated.”
Expressing their disappointment in President Mahama’s handling of the crisis, they said, “In both January and May 2025, delegations of our Conference raised these concerns directly with him, only to be met with unsatisfactory responses focused narrowly on economic gain.”
“We appeal to President Mahama to show the courage of leadership. His government must prosecute not only the poor but also the powerful; not only the weak but also the well-connected. Without courage, no policy will stand, no law will hold, no declaration will succeed,” they appealed.
The revered Bishops categorically stated that “This is not a routine challenge to be managed with half-measures; it is a national emergency requiring decisive, extraordinary response.”
A decisive decision to end the canker, they said, is urgently needed because “Once-verdant forests lie stripped to barren scars, while fertile farmlands are rendered sterile, punctured by deadly pits.”
Will Ghana pass the Anti-Witchcraft Bill? Find out in the latest episode of The Lowdown on GhanaWeb TV in this conversation with Amnesty International
