President of IMANI Africa, Franklin Cudjoe, has taken aim at government’s approach to illegal mining, or galamsey, arguing that excessive reliance on dialogue has done little to tackle the crisis and that urgent, practical steps are needed.
His remarks come ahead of a high-level meeting convened by President John Dramani Mahama with leading civil society organisations (CSOs) at the Jubilee House on Friday, October 3, 2025, at 12 p.m.
The session is expected to explore long-term strategies for addressing the environmental and social toll of galamsey.
Speaking on Citi FM, Mr. Cudjoe admitted that dialogue has its place but questioned the real impact of yet another meeting.
“Frankly, apart from esprit de corps, as in gathering and meeting on this matter. I don’t know the takeaway from this meeting. Maybe the President wants to hear from us directly, face to face. I don’t understand the meeting; whatever it is, it’s an opportunity to meet him head-on and say ‘look, this is essential and must be dealt with and some assurances that it will be done,” he said.
He stressed that the President campaigned extensively on the issue, so he should already appreciate the urgency.
“The president campaigned for close to 12 months or more on this issue, so he knows. The Presidency has made its stance known. They are not in a hurry to declare a state of emergency,” Mr. Cudjoe pointed out.
He urged government to act swiftly by securing illegal mining hotspots while ensuring only licensed operators are allowed to remain in business.
“The measures we have to put in place are to secure the hotspots simultaneously. Those properly registered acquire proper licences to do their work, and those who don’t have licences will be dealt with.
“The meeting is a meet and greet, so far as I’m concerned. We will have to hold the President to account. We need to give ourselves timelines, give ourselves KPIs. If the year ends and we don’t see anything on galamsey, it will be ‘butubutu’ [a problem],” he warned.
Source : Adomonline
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