Executive Director of the Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA), Sulemana Braimah, has suggested that the fight against illegal mining, commonly known as galamsey, should be used as a key performance indicator (KPI) for all District Chief Executives (DCEs) across the country.

He made the call while speaking on Joy FM’s Super Morning Show on Monday, February 9, during a discussion on the JoyNews Hotline investigative documentary titled “A Tax for Galamsey: The extortion racket fueling illegal mining.”

According to Mr Braimah, DCEs must be held directly responsible for illegal mining activities in their districts.

“The fight against galamsey can be a KPI for all DCEs. These mining activities are happening in your area. It is illegal. And we are appointing you, and one of your very primary tasks is to ensure that this thing is stopped,” he said.

A Tax for Galamsey is a Hotline investigative documentary that exposes how illegal mining in Amansie Central District of the Ashanti Region is no longer merely tolerated - but systematically taxed, receipted and protected by government appointees.

Through undercover reporting, secret recordings, documentary evidence and on-the-ground infiltration, the investigation reveals an alleged extortion network involving the District Assembly, a taskforce operating under the authority of the District Chief Executive.

Mr Braimah clarified that his position was not against mining itself, but against unregulated and destructive practices.

“I don’t hold a view that mining in this country should be stopped. It’s just that mining should be regularised. Mining should be done legally.”

He added that with genuine commitment, young people engaged in galamsey could be redirected into lawful and environmentally friendly mining.

“I’m sure that if we are serious as a country, there can be a way in which we ensure that all these young people in galamsey get engaged in legal, well-regularised, environmentally friendly mining practices,” he said.

Mr Braimah questioned the fate of the proposed cooperative mining scheme, which was earlier presented as a long-term solution to galamsey.

“I don’t know what has become of this cooperative mining scheme that was launched. We were told that would be the solution to galamsey, where galamseyers would be put together to operate in an environmentally secure way,” he said.

The MFWA boss also criticised what he described as hypocrisy among some public officials who claim to be fighting illegal mining while the practice continues in their own areas.

“We did some work in Elembele, where the current Lands and Natural Resources Minister comes from. There is galamsey there. You sit in Accra and say you’re fighting galamsey, yet in your own constituency, galamsey is happening.”

He questioned the roles of ministers, regional ministers, DCEs, and security commanders in the ongoing crisis.

“What is happening in terms of the minister? What is happening with regional ministers, district chief executives, district police commanders and regional police commanders?” he asked.

He said that financial gain has become the main motivation for some officers.

“Talk to everyone and they will tell you the person is wearing a uniform, but what he’s looking for is the money. When they come, what they are interested in is the money.”

“If they come and you give them some hundred thousands, how many months is he going to make that money through his salary?. So they’ll collect it and go away. That is the crisis that we are in.”

Mr Braimah said he doubts the government’s commitment to ending illegal mining.

“With what I’ve seen with my naked eye in the course of last week, nobody can convince me that there is a serious fight against galamsey in this country. Either we say we’ve lost it, or we are not interested, or we are not committed to the fight,” he said.