Former Minister for Environment, Science, Technology, and Innovation, Professor Kwabena Frimpong-Boateng, has urged the country to build a national consensus aimed at achieving sustainable and long-term mining practices in Ghana.

According to him, the persistent galamsey crisis was not a result of weak laws, but rather weak enforcement, local-level complicity, and political interference.

Speaking at the 20th Annual Kronti ne Akwamu Democracy and Governance Public Lecture, themed “Galamsey: A Country in Search of Solutions in Plain Sight,” Professor Frimpong-Boateng said Ghana continued to overlook significant economic opportunities within its forests while focusing narrowly on gold.

“For me, as a doctor and as a scientist, when I hear that because of eight or ten billion dollars the environment has to be destroyed, it’s a pity. The trees are the most prominent things in the forest or farmlands, but there are things even more important than the trees. There are so many resources in our forests that can give us more money than gold,” he said.

Professor Frimpong-Boateng also emphasised the importance of a national dialogue focused on achieving proper and sustainable mining in the country.

“But if gold must be mined, it should be done sustainably and with respect for the environment. There should be a national consensus. It’s a very complex issue, so people need to sit down and come up with suggestions and solutions — solutions that may be unpalatable, but we must implement them,” he noted.