Former Environment, Science and Technology Minister, Prof. Kwabena Frimpong-Boateng, has questioned the government’s decision to seek deeper cooperation with China in addressing illegal mining, popularly known as galamsey.
His concerns follow an agreement between Ghana’s Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources and China’s Ministry of Natural Resources to collaborate on tackling illegal mining, strengthening geological survey expertise and promoting responsible investment in Ghana’s mining sector.
The agreement was reached during a high-level meeting between the two ministers on the sidelines of the 2026 China Mining Conference in Tianjin, China.
Lands and Natural Resources Minister Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah, who led the Ghanaian delegation alongside Ghana’s Ambassador to China, Kojo Bonsu, described the engagement as a breakthrough in efforts to reform the mining sector and attract responsible investment.
But speaking on Accra-based Channel One TV, Prof. Frimpong-Boateng challenged the rationale for bringing in Chinese expertise to support Ghana’s Geological Survey Authority.
“Recently I read that the minister went to China, and they are bringing Chinese to help the Geological Survey Authority. You know, the Chinese will come and tell us how to do certain things. I mean, this again, the roundabout, 70 years after independence, we don’t need the Chinese to come and advise the Geological Survey Authority or to tell us how we have to do things,” he said.
He argued that Ghana should have developed enough technical capacity to handle its geological and mining-related needs without relying on foreign assistance.
“I think it’s so saddening. Some of the things are very disturbing,” he said.
Prof. Frimpong-Boateng also raised questions about the government’s commitment to the fight against illegal mining, saying he had yet to see actions that, in his view, demonstrated a serious effort to deal with the problem.
“I know what a fight is; I don’t see any fight. They love galamsey,” he said.
According to him, some members of the governing National Democratic Congress (NDC) are also concerned about the situation but are unwilling to speak openly.
“I know a lot of people in the NDC who don’t like what is happening, but they cannot say. And the government has not come out to tell us or to commission somebody to comment on it critically,” he said.
The former minister further questioned Ghana’s dependence on foreign countries for support in areas he believes the country should be capable of handling itself.
He cited a recent visit by the Czech Republic’s ambassador to Kumasi in connection with efforts to revive a shoe factory as another example.
“Recently I read that the ambassador of the Czech Republic went to Kumasi to revive the shoe factory. What kind of people are we? So there should be no progress in this country,” he said.
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