Former Executive Director of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) says the initial attempt by President John Mahama to confront illegal small-scale mining failed because politicians were placed at the centre of the campaign rather than state institutions.

Speaking on Citi FM on Wednesday, December 17, Dr Henry Kwabena Kokofu described President Mahama’s first term as a turning point in Ghana’s anti-galamsey efforts, noting that it marked the first time a sitting president directly took on the problem.

“President Mahama, in his first term, was the first president in this country to have taken the battle against galamsey head-on,” he said.

However, Dr Kokofu argued that despite the boldness of the move, the strategy was flawed and ultimately unsuccessful because it relied heavily on political leadership rather than institutional enforcement.

“Between 2012 and 2014, it couldn’t work because politicians were put in the forefront,” he stated.

He cited the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Illegal Mining, set up during that period, as an example of how political dominance weakened the campaign's effectiveness.

“We had the inter-ministerial committee on galamsey, and we all saw the results,” Dr Kokofu added, suggesting that the outcomes fell short of expectations.

According to him, the experience from that period should serve as a lesson for future interventions, stressing that sustainable success in the fight against galamsey can only be achieved when independent state institutions are empowered to lead enforcement efforts, free from political control.