Presidential Candidate for the Alliance for Revolutionary Change, Alan Kwadwo Kyerematen, has presented a detailed strategy aimed at combating illegal mining, often referred to as galamsey, emphasizing the need to demobilize the equipment involved in such activities.

He criticized the current government's tactic of seizing and incinerating excavators, labelling it “ineffective and nonsensical.”

Instead, Kyerematen advocates for a more organized and sustainable approach by utilising the military to assist in the demobilization of mining machinery.

This proposal forms part of his comprehensive 10-point plan to address the galamsey crisis, which includes implementing a one-year nationwide suspension of small-scale and community mining operations.

This pause is intended to facilitate improved regulation and environmental restoration.

Kyerematen expressed these views during a meeting organized by the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA) on October 1, 2024.

“Demobilisation of all machinery and equipment that are currently used in small-scale and community mining. Under the supervision of the military, if you demobilise equipment, you need to do three things: first, you need to keep them under inventory, two, you need to have them properly stored; and third, you need to preserve them.

“This practice of burning equipment doesn’t make any sense. And that is why the GRP is proposing that you demobilise, and inventorize them so that you know what you have. Otherwise, after one year, they will be out of use.”