Convener of the OneGhana Movement and Trustee of the Ghana Coalition Against Galamsey, Senyo Hosi says Ghana is nowhere near winning the fight against illegal small-scale mining, popularly known as galamsey, arguing that the country has failed to achieve meaningful results despite several interventions.

Speaking on JoyNews’ Newsfile on Saturday, August 22, Mr Hosi said the effectiveness of government’s anti-galamsey measures must be judged by their impact on the country’s water bodies, forest reserves, food quality and national security.

He said available evidence, particularly on water quality, suggests that the country is rather retrogressing.

“I don’t think we should beat about the bush. The truth of the matter is that we are nowhere near winning the fight against galamsey. We are nowhere near winning at all, and it is fair that we say we have failed in that fight,” he said.

Mr Hosi said the scale of illegal mining had worsened significantly over the past two years, describing the trend as exponential rather than gradual.

He recalled that in August 2024, the estimated number of people involved in galamsey was about 14,000 to 14,500, but by August 2025, the figure had risen to about 98,000.

According to him, the sharp increase should be a warning that existing interventions are not producing the desired policy outcomes.

He criticised what he described as an overemphasis on measuring success through arrests, destruction of mining equipment and other enforcement activities.

Mr Hosi argued that the number of people arrested or equipment seized by the National Anti-Illegal Mining Operations Secretariat (NAIMOS) should not be the primary measure of whether the government's anti-galamsey strategy is succeeding.

“You can arrest one million people, and if the water is not improving, it is rather getting worse. Tell me, what is the policy outcome of the intervention?” he questioned.

He said government must instead focus on measurable outcomes, particularly improvements in water turbidity and the restoration of degraded water bodies and forest reserves.

Mr Hosi also challenged policymakers to publish relevant data transparently to allow Ghanaians to assess whether interventions are delivering the intended results.

He said policy discussions in Ghana often focus on inputs rather than outcomes, which makes it difficult to determine whether government programmes are actually working.

“This is the mistake we make in this country. We discuss policy from the point of input and not the output,” he said.

Mr Hosi acknowledged that the government had undertaken several enforcement measures, including the impounding and destruction of mining equipment, but insisted that such activities should ultimately translate into tangible improvements in the environment.

He further argued that Ghana missed a critical opportunity during the first term of former President Nana Akufo-Addo to decisively address galamsey.

According to him, the worsening situation demonstrates the need for a fundamental rethink of the country's approach to the illegal mining crisis.

Mr Hosi called for transparent data and rigorous evaluation of all anti-galamsey interventions, insisting that government must demonstrate their actual impact rather than simply highlighting the number of arrests or equipment seized.