Former Forestry Commission official and governance advocate, Rev. Charles Owusu, has expressed concern over President John Mahama’s approach to fighting illegal mining, warning that any failure on his part to uproot the menace will be deeply disappointing given his experience in office.

Speaking on Adom FM’s Dwaso Nsem on Tuesday, April 29, Rev. Owusu described illegal mining—commonly referred to as galamsey—as a crisis that transcends politics and demands firm, immediate, and non-partisan action.

He urged the President to take decisive measures, including the deployment of the Ghana Armed Forces to forest reserves across the country.

I’ll be sad if Mahama fails in this galamsey fight. He tried and failed in his first term, so he has the experience now. If by tomorrow all the forest zones are declared military zones, I tell you, the noise will stop and galamsey will cease, Rev. Owusu said, reiterating his calls for the forests to be declared military zones and handed over to the Ghana Armed Forces.

He warned that the country’s seeming lack of commitment to eradicating galamsey stems from the fact that individuals involved often enjoy political protection.

We may be failing to implement harsh measures because those involved are party sympathisers. We all know this. Depending on who is in power, their own people are the perpetrators, he claimed.

Rev. Owusu, a vocal environmental advocate, dismissed the view that repealing the Legislative Instrument (LI 2462) regulating small-scale mining in forests is the solution. According to him, the real challenge lies in enforcement, not legislation.

Those who are lawless don’t care about new laws. If we truly want to end galamsey, the President must exercise the full weight of executive power and direct the military to take charge of our forest reserves he said.

He repeated his long-held position that forest zones should be protected by a dedicated Forest Protection Unit within the Ghana Armed Forces.

He believes this will deter illegal miners and safeguard Ghana’s disappearing green belt.

God didn’t give us gold to destroy ourselves. We will mine, yes—but sustainably. Our water bodies are polluted, forests are vanishing, yet we sit idle because we’re unwilling to confront those responsible, he lamented.

Rev. Owusu also criticised political hypocrisy on the issue, recalling how the then-opposition NDC had demanded that President Akufo-Addo solve the galamsey problem “overnight” while in office, only for the situation to worsen now that they are in power.

He further suggested that small-scale mining should be restricted to Ghanaians alone, urging a review of the role of foreign nationals in the sector.

Maybe we need to stop all foreigners from mining and allow only Ghanaians to mine responsibly. Even the big companies we don’t scrutinise—we assume because they’re expatriates, they’ll do the right thing. Who told us that?

Citing the effectiveness of the military in securing Ghana’s northern borders under Major General Thomas Oppong-Peprah, Rev. Owusu insisted the same determination could end galamsey if only the political will existed.

If we can deploy security forces within hours during national threats, why can’t we stop galamsey? Is it because it involves our own people? he queried.

He made a passionate plea to President Mahama, saying: You have just four years. Use your power to end this. Call the Lands Minister, the Forestry Commission, the Lands Commission, and the security chiefs—and declare the forests a military zone. Let’s create a Forest Protection Unit. If we do this, I assure you we’ll no longer be discussing galamsey on the radio.