President Mahama called for patience and calm following the growing pressure on him from stakeholders and citizens to declare a state of emergency due to the devastating and deadly effects of galamsey.

Speaking during his first media encounter, the President explained that government doesn't need to declare a state of emergency to fight illegal mining because the laws already give us enough power to act, we just need to enforce them more vigorously.

“I’ve been reluctant to implement a state of emergency in the galamsey fight because we’ve not exhausted the powers we even have without a state of emergency. We have the opportunity to arrest anybody, to confiscate any such thing. The laws for forest protection and all that give us enough powers to be able to act,” he said.

In response to this, the Ghana Catholic Bishops’ Conference (GCBC) has issued a strongly worded statement signed by the Bishop of Sunyani and President of the group, Rev. Matthew Kwasi Gyamfi to the government, highlighting dire consequences the country is currently facing due to galamsey and the need for urgent measures without delay. In a statement dated issued on Monday September 16, the religious group expressed their commitment to ensuring the protection of God’s creation which was being ravaged by galamsey.

“As shepherds of the Church and moral custodians of our nation, we cannot be silent before a calamity that imperils both the integrity of God’s creation and the dignity of His people. 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. This is not a routine challenge to be managed with half-measures; it is a national emergency requiring decisive, extraordinary response, ” excerpts of the statement read.

Detailing the sorry state of our water bodies, our reserves which have been left barren and farmlands punctured with deadly pits, the Catholic Priests fumed that, these dying natural resources resulting from the poisons which are slowly seeping into our food chains, causing diseases such as cancer kidney failure among other preventable diseases citizens are currently dealing with.

Galamsey over the years has been a menace which per reports is heavily sponsored by the people very close to the corridors of power, politicians, nobles and relatives of the unsuspecting individuals in the country and the bishops have expressed disappointment in their silence asserting that these culprits are being shielded for the personal gains of agencies, institutions expected to fight galamsey.

“ This betrayal of trust cuts to the very marrow of our national identity. We call such leaders to repentance without delay” they added.

Consequently, they have called on the President to act without delay, expressing their disappointment in President Mahama’s remarks on enforcing the anti galamsey measure. They are worried about galamsey’s threats to national security citing that,

“Worse still, galamsey has matured into a threat to national security. It enriches criminal cartels, breeds lawlessness, and foments violent conflicts in mining communities. Yet, in the face of this, the President of the Republic, His Excellency John Dramani Mahama, appears not to grasp the existential scale of the menace. 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. At his “Meet the Press” session of 10 September 2025, he dismissed calls for a state of emergency. This is profoundly troubling. The hour is late. Delay is betrayal. Now, not tomorrow, not later, is the time to act.

We therefore urge the President and his government to declare, without hesitation, a state of emergency in the most affected mining zones and around endangered water bodies. Such a declaration would empower extraordinary interventions: curfews in volatile areas, the securing of devastated lands, the dismantling of entrenched criminal syndicates, and the halting of corrupt administrative complicities. The scale of the crisis justifies nothing less”.

Rev. Matthew Kwasi Gyamfi also appealed to the president to provide alternative livelihoods for the illegaal miners and compensate affected farmers with new lands, credit and training. They also called on government to “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”.

The statement ended with a call for patriotism from all Ghanaians in the fight against galamsey.

"To all Ghanaians, we say: resist the lure of quick wealth that leaves our children a desert in place of a homeland. To chiefs: remember your sacred responsibility as custodians of the land. To politicians:place Ghana above personal and partisan advantage. To religious leaders: speak prophetically without fear or favour. To our security agencies: act with integrity, be defenders of the people, not accomplices in their betrayal.

"Beloved brothers and sisters, this struggle is not merely about law enforcement. It concerns the very soul of Ghana. It is about whether we choose life or death, blessing or curse (Deuteronomy 30:19).With God’s grace, let us choose life, for ourselves, for our children, and for generations yet unborn. May the Lord bless our homeland, Ghana, and make us faithful stewards of His creation".

Galamsey is one major challenge and a cancer eating into the country’s ecosystem. The fight against it is a long-standing one with little to no positive and generally significant and impressive effect; however, past and present administrations remain relentless in the fight against the environmental demon.

Ghana in August lost right gallant men who were en route to an event on anti-galamsey in a gory and heart-wrenching plane crash on August 6, in Adansi.

They were burned beyond recognition while on their way to an event to dissuade Ghanaians from engaging in illegal mining activities. Their remains had to be collected in cocoa sacks for forensic examination.

Consequently, their death heightened calls from officials, concerned citizens and other stakeholders on President Mahama to be fierce and stern in his fight against the menace.