Vice President of IMANI Africa, Kofi Bentil, has criticised the government’s approach to tackling illegal small-scale mining, popularly known as galamsey, arguing that the current administration is not doing enough to address the crisis.

Speaking on JoyNews’ Newsfile on Saturday, August 22, Mr Bentil said that although the previous Akufo-Addo administration ultimately failed to win the fight against galamsey, it made a more visible effort to confront the problem.

“Akufo-Addo’s government tried and failed galamsey, but this government is not trying,” he said.

Mr Bentil was particularly critical of the government’s use of the National Anti-Illegal Mining Operations Secretariat (NAIMOS), describing its activities as insufficient to match the scale of the crisis.

He argued that the estimated number of people actively engaged in galamsey far exceeds the number of arrests recorded by the authorities.

According to him, the scale of the problem requires a more comprehensive and decisive response rather than isolated enforcement actions.

“We need to rethink our thinking about galamsey and the policy around it,” he said.

Mr Bentil further questioned whether the economic interests surrounding gold were influencing the government’s response to the illegal mining crisis.

He said the continued destruction of the environment, particularly water bodies and farmlands, requires government to adopt a strategy that prioritises environmental restoration alongside enforcement.

He maintained that Ghana cannot afford to continue with interventions that produce limited results while the scale of illegal mining continues to grow.

Mr Bentil therefore called for a fundamental review of the country’s anti-galamsey strategy, including greater emphasis on reclaiming degraded lands and developing policies capable of producing measurable environmental improvements.