Ghana lost a critical opportunity to decisively tackle illegal small-scale mining during the first term of former President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, Convenor of the One Ghana Movement, Senyo Hosi, has argued.

He said the initial crackdown significantly disrupted small-scale mining but was later weakened as political and economic considerations influenced the government’s approach.

In his view, the retreat from the original policy direction has contributed to the difficulty Ghana now faces in confronting the galamsey menace.

“I’ve maintained that we missed the boat in the fight to stop galamsey with our default strategy, and that’s sometime in former President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo’s first term,” Mr Hosi said.

“I think he really put his presidency on the line when he promised that, but he gave that up and everything else is now history. We actually missed that particular boat.”

Speaking in an interview with Bernard Avle on Channel One TV on Wednesday, September 30, Mr Hosi said political considerations, including concerns about the 2020 general election, played a role in the scaling back of the earlier measures.

“He was worried about his 2020 election. He had to take a step back. The NDC folks were taking advantage of his fight,” he said.

Mr Hosi further argued that the challenge has since become deeply rooted in local economies, with many communities depending on illegal mining for livelihoods amid youth unemployment and underemployment.

He said this economic dependence has made governments reluctant to pursue the kind of decisive measures he believes are required to confront galamsey.