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Cape Coast – The Head of the Department of Soil Science at the School of Agriculture, University of Cape Coast (UCC), Dr. Kofi Atiah, has stated that successive Ghanaian governments have failed to task the nation’s experts with finding workable solutions to illegal mining, popularly known as “galamsey.”
He contends that governments have not sufficiently challenged professors – particularly chemists, soil scientists, and environmental remediation experts – to develop highly workable and implementable solutions.
Dr. Atiah made these comments during a panel discussion on the topic “Sustaining the Fight Against Illegal Mining: Any Progress?” on GBC Radio Central’s Centre Stage on Saturday, October 11, 2025.
“Government must task its professors – chemists, environmental, and agricultural scientists from the higher education intitutiins – and I bet you, they would be able to provide solutions to this menace,” he stated.
The Soil Fertility and Plant Nutrition expert noted that countries such as America, Australia, and China also engage in mining but have developed sustainable policies to guide their activities. “In some of these countries, water used for mining is treated to safe levels before being discharged into water bodies. Why can’t the same be done in Ghana?” he asked.
Regarding mining investments, Dr. Atiah expressed the view that the government has not done enough, which constraints its ability to regulate the sector effectively. He suggested the government should invest directly, and amalgamate small-scale or artisanal mining groups into larger, more manageable entities to improve oversight.
Furthermore, the soil scientist added that once this is achieved, simple memebrane filtration mechanisms could be deployed at mining sites for miners to use and pay for.
On the role of technology, Dr. Atiah revealed that an app could be developed to help the Ghana Gold Board differentiate between gold from legal and illegal mines. “When this happens and the government refuses to buy illegally acquired gold, miners would be compelled to align with government measures,” he stated.
Dr. Atiah emphasized that the negative effects of illegal mining are real and threaten all Ghanaians. “We don’t have the technology to scan market food items to ascertain the presence of heavy metals or trace their origins to inform our purchase choices,” he underscored.
He also noted that the government has failed to fully appreciate the associated health burdens. He affirmed that if drastic measures are not implemented now to halt galamsey, “a time will come when Ghana cannot afford the cost of dialysis consumables for the number of citizens who will need treatment every week. This will happen in the not-too-distant future,” he emphasized.
Also on the panel, Counsellor Enoch Forson revealed that illegal mining is occurring within the Cape Coast Metropolis, specifically at Efutu. “Galamsey is now happening within the metropolis on the Jukwa stretch. It’s closer to us than we might imagine,” he said.
The Counsellor added that the social acceptability of illegal mining in many communities complicates the fight. He suggested that effective public education, using graphic images and videos of the effects of galamsey, could help reduce the menace.
Mr. Frank Tuffuor of Advocacy Ghana echoed similar sentiments, positing that illegal mining is an existential threat. He emphasized that without meaningful intervention, it would jeopardize the country’s food security, sovereignty, and water sources.
“The government’s vision to achieve food security will be dashed if galamsey isn’t stopped. We could soon have to import water from other countries, which would aggravate our already struggling currency,” he stressed.
Mr. Tuffuor described the kingpins behind galamsey as “psychopaths – people who don’t care about the negative impacts of their activities on individuals and the environment, and are interested only in the money they can get.” He added, “Probably they are not aware that they are destroying the very environment that sustains them.”
In sum, all panel members agreed on the disturbing and escalating consequences of illegal mining, suggesting that the time to tackle the menace decisively is now.
