President John Dramani Mahama has reaffirmed government’s determination to defeat illegal mining, popularly known as galamsey, without declaring a state of emergency.

Addressing Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) at the Jubilee House on Friday, October 3, 2025, the President cited advice from the National Security Council, which maintains that current strategies remain sufficient.

“The National Security Council believes that we can win the fight against galamsey without a state of emergency,” President Mahama said. “The day they advise me otherwise, I will not hesitate to declare one. But for now, we still have the powers to win this fight.”

He traced Ghana’s deep mining heritage, recalling how gold was among the first exports traded with the Portuguese in Elmina. But he stressed that today’s illegal operations—driven by heavy machinery—have strayed far from traditional methods and are devastating the environment.

President Mahama announced a tougher approach, centered on sustained military deployment under the newly established National Anti-Illegal Mining Operations Secretariat (NAIMOS), and a larger budgetary commitment.

“Lessons learned show that we must deploy the military on a sustained basis, not withdraw after some wins. We need a substantially bigger budget than we currently have to win this war,” he explained.

With budget hearings underway, the President expressed optimism that the 2026 national budget would allocate more resources to the anti-galamsey campaign.

He underscored his personal commitment to environmental preservation:

“We should not hand over poisoned rivers and desecrated forests to our children and grandchildren. I don’t gain anything from galamsey. I am not personally involved in it. We will continue to fight, and I believe we will win.”