The Convenor of the Media Coalition Against Galamsey, Dr Kenneth Ashigbey, has condemned District Chief Executives (DCEs) for failing to effectively carry out their mandate to curb illegal mining, popularly known as galamsey.

He said the persistence of galamsey in many parts of the country, despite the President’s clear directives and performance indicators, indicates a failure of local leadership to enforce the law and protect the environment.

Speaking on Luv FM’s morning show, Dr Ashigbey stressed that the fight against galamsey would continue to be undermined unless DCEs are held accountable for what happens in their jurisdictions.

“Anywhere that we’re seeing galamsey happening, there’s a DCE in that community,” he said. “The President has given them a KPI to fight galamsey. So if galamsey is still happening, then it means you have failed.”

Dr Ashigbey argued that public officials should face consequences for underperformance, just as workers in other sectors are sanctioned when they fail to meet key performance indicators.

“If you fail to meet your KPIs in any other job, you’ll be interdicted and investigated,” he said. “But in these political appointments, the President can immediately dismiss or investigate a DCE for complicity. It cannot be that from Tarkwa to Takoradi, when you pass through Simpa and see pits near the water bodies, the MCE says he doesn’t know about it.”

Dr Ashigbey described galamsey as part of a wider, organised crime network that extends far beyond those physically engaged in mining activities.

“The challenge with galamsey is that it is organised crime,” he explained. “It’s not the people you see in the pits; it’s the people funding it and those smuggling the gold.”

He, however, welcomed some progress, particularly the introduction of the Gold Board, which he said is helping to reduce gold smuggling and improve oversight of financial flows linked to illegal mining.

“Fortunately, one of the positive things that has happened is the Gold Board,” he noted. “It’s helping prevent smuggling and making it easier for us to track and trace where the illicit financial flows are going, so that we can deal with the root cause.”