Security analyst, Professor Kwesi Aning, says that the demands by organised labour reflect the government's dereliction of duty in the fight against illegal mining (galamsey).

According to him, it is the government's responsibility to declare a state of emergency when it recognises a crisis, rather than waiting for citizens to pressure them into action.

“It’s the government that declares a state of emergency and not the citizenry that demands that the government do so,” he said JoyNews’ AM Show on Wednesday, October 9.

He explained that a state of emergency is often declared by a government and it requires extraordinary measures to take such action.

However, he said in Ghana’s case, the process appears to be reversed, with organised labour and the citizens asserting that the government is not addressing the severity of the galamsey crisis swiftly enough.

“Now it’s on record that Mr Jinapor is against this declaration and he talks about cabals. Cabals don’t issue licenses, they don’t just get up from outside one's country and enter somebody’s sovereign territory to do what is taking place. 

“So if he knows there are cabals, why has it taken him so long to act? So there is a certain lack of seriousness,” he said.

Prof Aning said that Ghana is facing an existential crisis and that the government has shown neither commitment nor seriousness in tackling the galamsey issue.

He criticised Lands and Natural Resources Minister, Samuel Abu Jinapor's statements regarding the government's efforts, describing them as reactive rather than addressing the root of the problem.

“He [Abu Jinapor] has been telling us about drones, speed boats… There is a certain lack of seriousness on how the extent of this problem is understood, the willingness to take the extraordinary political measures beyond the realm of the normal to be able to deal with this,” he said.

Prof Aning reiterated that the government has not taken the issue seriously enough, allowing it to escalate to the point where it has become a significant national problem.