A coalition of Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) has called on President John Mahama to declare a state of emergency over the escalating illegal mining crisis, insisting that the government’s anti-galamsey taskforce has failed to deliver results.

The protest, led by the FixTheCountry Movement and supported by groups such as the Dynamic Youth Movement of Ghana (DYMOG), took place on Friday, February 27, 2026, and coincided with the President’s State of the Nation Address to Parliament. The demonstrators, who later presented a petition at the Ministry of Interior in Accra, say the fight against galamsey has stalled despite earlier assurances.

In an interview with JoyNews, DYMOG convenor Edward Seyram Tuttor did not mince words. “Our demand is just one, that galamsey must stop now,” he said. “As we speak, NAIMOS has failed.”

He was referring to the National Anti-Illegal Mining Operations Secretariat (NAIMOS), the government’s anti-galamsey taskforce. According to him, when the President previously met with CSOs, NAIMOS had promised decisive action.

“When the president met with CSOs, NAIMOS was clear that we’re going to smoke out galamsey’s campaign financiers and labourers,” he recalled. “But as we speak, looking at what happened at Hwediem in the Asutifi constituency alone, it tells us that whatever is in the bush, the military cannot handle it.”

For DYMOG, the situation has moved beyond routine enforcement.

“So we need the President to trigger his emergency powers under Article 31,” Tuttor stressed. “Article 31 says that whenever anything that sustains life comes under threat and is harmful to life, the president must invoke the emergency powers.”

He argued that illegal mining poses a direct threat to water, food security and public health.

“If galamsey fails, potable water is affected. If galamsey fails, the food that we eat, our staples, are under attack. If galamsey fails, the health implications are with the citizens,” he said.

Listing the potential consequences, he warned of “kidney failure, acute liver issues, brain damage, and even the attack on fetuses during pregnancy.”

“All of that is an attack on the citizens,” he added. “So, for the welfare of the citizens, we are calling on the president to declare a state of emergency. Only he can declare, and he must do what the president of Ghana must do.”

DYMOG also questioned the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) claims that it has deployed nano-ionic copper technology to cleanse polluted rivers.

“The EPA is saying that they have a nano-ionic copper technology that can cleanse rivers,” Tuttor said. “From what we saw, it was not a river that they were actually piloting to cleanse. It was stagnant water.”

He dismissed the efficacy of the method against heavy metal contamination.

“We all know from bioengineering that heavy metals like mercury, cyanide, arsenic and lead cannot be removed,” he argued. “The only thing it does is that it can help floating substances to subside, to make the water look clean, but it cannot.”

In a pointed remark directed at the EPA leadership, he added, “After that water has settled, she cannot drink it. And no medical practitioner will advise anybody to drink water that has been filtered through ionic aggregation.”

The DYMOG convenor further cited continued illegal mining activity across major water bodies as evidence that enforcement efforts have not succeeded.

“Just yesterday, River Ankobra, we saw changfans over there. The Black Volta, changfans are on there. When you go to the River Bia, changfans are on there. Galamsey is still going on,” he said.

“So the question is, where is NAIMOS? Where is that energy? Where is the reset?” he asked, referencing the government’s broader economic reform agenda.

“If there’s a reset happening in the economy, but the reset is not affecting the fight against galamsey, then it means that the reset is not happening,” he argued.

DYMOG also raised concerns about alleged complicity at the local government level.

“It is a surprise that as we speak, the DCE for Amansie Central, who has been captured, that under his watch, money is being taken from galamseyers — 6,000 Ghana Cedis is being charged for changfan — that DCE is still at post,” Tuttor alleged.

“Are we really serious about the fight against galamsey?” he asked. “Look, we are making a mockery of the fight against galamsey.”

DYMOG has warned that if the President does not act decisively, the pressure will intensify.

“If that is not done, we will keep protesting, and we will keep demanding that the right thing be done,” Tuttor declared.