The Economic Advisor to the Vice President, Sharif Mahmud Khalid, has warned that the fight against illegal mining should not be left to the president alone.
Speaking on JoyNews’ Newsfile on September 27, 2025, Khalid stated that leaving all the responsibility to President John Dramani Mahama alone could cause the fight against illegal mining to fail.
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“… So, it’s not an individual power. If you are resigning only this [galamsey fight] to a president, then I think we are all going to fail,” he said.
He instead proposed a national and collective effort to tackle the menace and cautioned against politicising the issue.
“… Let’s sit down and have a national conversation on this [galamsey]. I’m not really in the politicisation of this. Let’s deal with it from a national perspective. You can do your politics when you have the platform. What I’m invariably saying is that we need to be nationalistic about this. We need to focus as a nation, regardless of who has the power,” he proposed.
Khalid described the activities of illegal miners as a national emergency that requires bold and decisive action.
According to him, President Mahama continues to take such bold steps, particularly referencing the president’s directive to the Attorney General to initiate investigations into allegations made against two national executives of the National Democratic Congress (NDC).
“So, what I am invariably saying or calling for is, what can we do to curb this situation as soon as possible? It’s a matter of national emergency, and we’ve taken the steps in the last nine months. Like, look at the steps that have been taken by the sitting president; we are asking to act.
“He instructed his Attorney General to write to no mere persons than his national party executives that attention has been drawn to him that this is happening, so they need to be investigated. That is a bold step for a president, an AG, and by reflection, a Cabinet to take,” he said.
Watch the video below:
Sharif Mahmud Khalid warns that placing the full responsibility of curbing galamsey solely on the President is a flawed approach. He emphasized that every citizen — has a role to play in ending the crisis.#Newsfile pic.twitter.com/OH9wGxSZyd
— JoyNews (@JoyNewsOnTV) September 27, 2025
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