The Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources has attributed the continued struggle against illegal mining, popularly known as galamsey, to what it describes as “local complicity” within some mining communities, warning that enforcement efforts alone may not be enough to eliminate the practice.
According to the Ministry, despite years of interventions—including military operations, policy reforms, and public education campaigns—illegal mining activities continue to persist in several parts of the country, largely because they are enabled at the community level.
Speaking on The Big Issue on Channel One TV on Saturday, April 25, the Spokesperson for the Ministry, Paa Kwesi Schandorf, said the fight against galamsey has been significantly hampered by the involvement of some residents in affected areas.
“If you look at the raft of interventions that the government has rolled out, even in the past and what we are doing now, and you examine all of them, and at the end of the day, there is still local complicity, if I have to put it that way, you are not going to go anywhere,” he said.
He added that the persistence of illegal mining in many communities is not only driven by external actors but is often sustained by locals who directly or indirectly support the activity.
“Because the truth of the matter is that, and it’s unfortunate, if you go to many of the mining communities where illegal mining has become very prominent, it is the locals who actually enable it,” he added.
According to the Ministry, this reality continues to complicate enforcement efforts, as anti-galamsey operations are often undermined by resistance, concealment, or logistical support from within the communities where the activities take place.
