Legal and policy analyst Kofi Bentil has urged former President John Mahama to approach the fight against illegal small-scale mining (galamsey) with a stronger, more strategic response, warning that the issue is far more dangerous and complex than it appears.

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His caution follows President Mahama’s renewed pledge to combat illegal mining, a commitment he reiterated earlier this week. However, Mr. Bentil insists that addressing galamsey requires more than political promises and traditional law enforcement measures.

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Speaking on Newsfile on February 8, 2025, he emphasized the need for a more comprehensive approach, stating that past efforts have failed because they underestimated the deep-seated motivations driving illegal miners.

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"Gold is a spirit, and from time immemorial, it makes men mad. If you know the stories of the Wild West, people killed and died for gold. So when you see people risking their lives to go after this, and we think that we can just treat it as a simple law enforcement issue, that’s where the problem is," he remarked.

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Mr. Bentil further highlighted the dangers associated with illegal mining, particularly the hazardous working conditions miners expose themselves to. He pointed to the widespread use of toxic mercury in gold extraction, with workers often handling the substance with their bare hands, unaware of its long-term health risks.

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"People are doing things in pursuit of this gold that will affect them, their children, and their grandchildren. People don’t appreciate the kind of dangers they themselves are involved in. We should take this thing more seriously than we have done so far and deal with it," he urged.

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Beyond enforcement, the analyst criticized the lack of serious investment in land reclamation and environmental recovery. He stressed that stopping galamsey alone is not enough and called for a national strategy to restore degraded lands and polluted water bodies.

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"We have not taken recovery seriously enough. We are treating stopping galamsey as the main thing to do. Maybe we will not stop galamsey in the next 10 years, but we should have a national plan for the recovery of these lands," he stated.

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Mr. Bentil concluded by advocating for a holistic approach that includes stronger enforcement, environmental rehabilitation, and viable economic alternatives for those engaged in illegal mining. While he extended his best wishes to the President, he maintained that only a more aggressive and structured plan would yield lasting results in the fight against galamsey.

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