The President of the Ghana Association of Banks, John Awuah, has criticised efforts to combat illegal mining, also known as galamsey.

He describes the country’s multiple taskforces and interventions as expensive political creations that have achieved “next to nothing.”

In a strongly worded article, Mr Awuah said that despite years of government programmes and security operations, rivers remain poisoned, and the national response has been defined by “complete non-performance.”

“Politicians are good at coining jargons that achieve next to nothing,” he wrote, listing a long chain of anti-galamsey initiatives including Operation Vanguard, Blue Water Guards, Operation Halt Galamsey, the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Illegal Mining (IMCIM), and the National Anti-Illegal Mining Operations Secretariat (NAIMOS).

“I’m not sure there has been any national epidemic that has received this level of Complete Non-performance and a waste of the taxpayers' money as we have done on GALAMSEY,” he stated.

Mr Awuah questioned how Ghana could create so many structures to tackle one problem and still “fail woefully.”

“How can we have this number of Task Forces to tackle one problem and fail woefully?” he asked.

He argued that the failure points to a deeper issue: a lack of genuine intent.

“Except to say that they were and continue to be Political creations to send a message of attention to the phenomenon without real intent to achieve any positive outcome,” he said.

Beyond government, the banking industry leader also took aim at Ghana’s civil society space, insisting that the country lacks a credible CSO community capable of delivering results in the fight against illegal mining.

“I do not believe that we have a credible CSO community in Ghana,” he said.

He criticised civil society groups for focusing their public activism on issues such as the Kotoka International Airport name change while the country faces what he described as an existential threat.

“They have time to comment and make a case on the KIA name change at a time that we are all confronted with the existential threat of GALAMSEY,” he wrote.

He dismissed claims that CSOs have played meaningful roles in the anti-galamsey campaign.

“I know they will say they have made enough noise on GALAMSEY. Nope! It’s been empty noise full of political patronage,” he stated.

Mr Awuah argued that genuine activism must demonstrate impact.

“An active CSO intervention achieves results; not press conferences,” he said, adding that civil society must “push and say truth to power and not bow to gimmicks in the name of GALAMSEY fight.”

He questioned the absence of other key national voices in the conversation, including traditional and religious leaders and statutory bodies.

“Where are the Peace Council, National House of Chiefs, National Development Planning Commission, Pastors, Imams and our Independent CSOs?” he asked.

Mr Awuah singled out journalist Erastus Asare Donkor as one of the few credible voices still speaking consistently on the issue.

“Whenever I listen to Erastus Asare Donkor, who is perhaps the only credible voice left in the GALAMSEY discussions, I cringe,” he wrote.

He warned that Ghana’s obsession with gold export figures and revenue is dangerous if the country is destroying its water bodies and endangering public health.

“How can we be toying with our present and future and our leaders are focused on how much Gold we exported and the revenues that accrued to the country last year?” he asked.

He also posed a stark moral question about the true cost of illegal mining.

“What will increased Gold revenues do if half of the population is threatened with heightened chronic and acute diseases resulting from the extraction of Gold?” he wrote.

“Will the growth in Dollars raise the DEAD?” he added.

Mr Awuah called for sustained national pressure, insisting that Ghana must raise its voice without ceasing.

“We must put our hands to the plough and raise our voices to the obvious dangers of GALAMSEY without ceasing,” he said.

He commended The Multimedia Group for what he described as leadership in developmental journalism, saying the media must continue to force the issue onto the national agenda.

“And here, I commend the Managers of The Multimedia Group for the demonstration of leadership in developmental journalism,” he wrote.