Empower state institutions to lead galamsey fight, not politicians – Dr Kokofu
Former Executive Director of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Dr Henry Kwabena Kokofu, has maintained that the fight against illegal small-scale mining, popularly known as galamsey, will only yield results if state institutions are given the lead role, rather than allowing politicians to drive the process.
Speaking on Citi Eyewitness News on Wednesday, December 17, Dr Kokofu said successive strategies that place politicians at the forefront of the anti-galamsey campaign have consistently failed, noting that such approaches have shown little effectiveness over time.
“It takes the use of state institutions that can help. The current situation and the past situation where politicians are put in the forefront in the fight against galamsey has proven not to be worth it. It is not working. Why are we continuously doing that?” he questioned.
Dr Kokofu pointed to the first term of former President John Dramani Mahama as a notable example, describing it as the first serious effort by a sitting president to directly confront the menace. However, he argued that the initiative did not succeed because political actors were placed at the center of the campaign.
“President Mahama in his first term was the first president in this country to have taken the battle against galamsey head on, and he failed. Between 2012 and 2014, it couldn’t work because politicians were put in the forefront. We had the inter-ministerial committee on galamsey and we all saw the results,” he stated.
He further reflected on the initial years of President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo’s administration, acknowledging that some progress was made after 2017 in curbing illegal mining activities.
However, Dr Kokofu noted that those gains were short-lived, particularly during the second term of the government, when efforts against galamsey weakened.
“If you will recall, the first real battle that was won against galamsey was chalked under the Akufo-Addo government. But going forward, we lost it, particularly in the second term. We couldn’t fight galamsey and it is obvious that it was part of our demise,” he said.
Source: CNR
