The Member of Parliament (MP) for Prestea Huni-Valley, Robert Wisdom Cudjoe, clarified the true meaning of "galamsey," emphasizing that the term is often misinterpreted as referring to illegal mining.

Speaking in an interview on Onua FM, as reported by MyNewsGh.com, Cudjoe explained that "galamsey" simply describes the process small-scale miners follow to extract and sell gold.

He stressed that there is no inherent connection between galamsey and illegal mining, indicating the term has been widely misunderstood and misused.

“We shouldn’t mix galamsey, small-scale mining, and illegal mining. Galamsey is the manual process through which small-scale miners obtain pure gold.

"It means ‘gather them and sell.’ So, the term ‘Galamsey’ has no connotation of illegal mining,” he explained.

He further explained that Prestea Huni-Valley has a long history of traditional mining, where miners manually crush rocks without harming water bodies or destroying forest reserves.

Mr Cudjoe noted that around 95% of the miners in Prestea Huni-Valley are local residents, while those responsible for damaging water bodies and forest reserves are mostly non-citizens.

He argued that the average small-scale miner lacks the financial resources to acquire the heavy machinery used in illegal mining operations today.