Dr Kenneth Ashigbey, the Convener, Media Coalition against Illegal Mining, has called for a stiffer punishment, including jail term, for foreigners who engage in illegal mining, also known as “galamsey.”

He said deporting such persons was not deterrent enough and only weakened the fight against illegal mining.

Speaking on a private television station on Saturday, Dr Ashigbey stressed the need for key actors, particularly financiers of the operation, to be identified and arrested.

He insisted that a state of emergency be declared in areas affected by illegal mining as part of the government’s effort to end the menace.

He said such a declaration would provide more impetus to stakeholders charged with the responsibility to tackling the canker.

“We still demand the imposition of a state of emergency in the illegal mining fight. We also need to put in place a system where we can track all active excavators in Ghana,” he said. 

Dr Ashigbey called for a complete repeal of the Legislative Instrument (L.I. 2462), which permitted the mining in forest reserves and disagreed with government’s attempt to review the LI.

Mr Daryl Bosu, the Deputy Director of A-Rocha Ghana, called for a complete overhaul of the mining licencing regime to help santise the mining sector.

He said the current licencing regime was responsible for the situation the country was grappling with and called for the removal of the current boss of the Minerals Commission as part of the “cleansing exercise.”

“If the ministry has come out to say, look, we are revoking all licences that were issued after December 7 because of procedural irregularities, the question you ask yourself is, who gave out those concession, how were they given and if you listen, it says that they were rushed through the processes,” he said.

“So, if this happened who supervised that. And we have already had issues, seriously, over the years as to who supervised all these messy licences that have been given out. We’ve had licences going over major rivers in this country, we’ve had licences overlapping with forest reserves in this country. How is it possible that the person who supervises, gives out these concessions, is still at post?” he quizzed.

Mr Martin Kpebu, a Private Legal Practitioner, also advocated the reshuffling of police command heads, especially those within identified illegal mining zones, to boost the fight.

Such a move would remove the familiarity that had been established between the illegal miners and the commanders within those areas and bring a renewed commitment to the fight.

Mr Godwin Edudzi Tamakloe, the Acting Chief Executive Officer of the National Petroleum Authority, attributed the difficulty in eradicating the menace to the economic benefits that accrued from it.

To tackle the canker, he proposed an alternative livelihood for persons who engaged in the act.