A former Chief of Staff under the Kufuor administration, Kwadwo Mpiani, has called for constructive dialogue between the government and organized labour to address the concerns about illegal mining also known as galamsey.

Mr Mpiani urged organised labour to engage in meaningful discussions, rather than a strike, as a way to resolve the issues surrounding galamsey.

In an interview on Joy FM's Midday News on Wednesday, October 2, he acknowledged that galamsey is a national crisis impacting nearly every Ghanaian, and stressed the importance of collaboration to find a sustainable solution.

“It [galamsey] is something which affects almost everybody in the country and therefore both organised labour and the government should sit to find out what is the way going forward.

"Assuming organized labour goes on strike and the government does not act, what happens in the end?" he asked.

However, Mr Mpiani also pointed out that if organized labour engages the government with concrete proposals and demands but the government remains unresponsive, a strike may be justified.

"If the government refuses to do anything about them [demands], then if you're telling us to go on strike, I may even want to support you," he added.

Read also: Galamsey: Organised labour declares strike Oct. 10 after expiration of gov’t ultimatum

His remarks follow a growing push by organized labour and Civil Society Organizations for the government to ban all forms of mining in forest reserves and declare a state of emergency.

After the government failed to meet a September deadline set by these groups, organized labour held an emergency meeting on October 1 to decide their next steps.

They subsequently announced a nationwide strike starting on October 10 in protest against the environmental destruction and economic damage caused by galamsey, warning of severe economic repercussions if the issue is not addressed.

Organised labour's petition to the president, which included three key demands: declaring a state of emergency, revoking Legislative Instrument 2462, and deploying the police and military to forest reserves and river bodies where illegal mining is rampant has not received a positive response from the government.