New Patriotic Party (NPP) presidential aspirant, Dr Yaw Osei Adutwum, says addressing unemployment is the most effective way to tackle illegal mining, popularly known as galamsey.

Speaking on Adom FM’s Dwaso Nsem morning show, Dr Adutwum argued that relying solely on military interventions will not solve the menace.

“If we don’t deal with the root cause, we will always prescribe wrong solutions. The root cause is unemployment,” he noted.

According to him, most of the youth engaged in galamsey are school dropouts.

“Many of these young people leave school after junior high. We need to get them into senior high schools, TVET, or vocational training to cut the pathway to galamsey,” he said.

Dr. Adutwum further proposed the establishment of counseling centres to guide young people toward alternative careers, alongside the creation of blue collar job opportunities and targeted interventions in mining communities.

“Ending galamsey is not just about deploying the military. There has to be a conscious effort to take the youth out of the galamsey pipeline,” he emphasised.