Ghana’s Minister for Communications, Digital Technology, and Innovation, Samuel Nartey George, has lauded President John Dramani Mahama’s resolve to combat illegal mining, or galamsey, asserting it surpasses the efforts of former President Nana Akufo-Addo’s administration.
In a September 30, 2025, JoyNews interview, George, a vocal critic of galamsey, reiterated his belief that the menace could be halted in a week with sufficient political will, a stance he held against Akufo-Addo after nearly eight years of inaction despite significant spending on task forces.
George acknowledged Mahama’s progress in his nine-month tenure, citing the president’s courage in allowing probes into two National Democratic Congress (NDC) executives linked to illegal mining—a contrast to Akufo-Addo’s alleged tacit support for a regional chairman who openly backed galamsey for party funding. He highlighted recent military operations that reclaimed seven of nine forest reserves affected by mining, a significant step forward.
Ahead of a major stakeholder meeting with over 30 civil society organizations on October 3, 2025, at the Jubilee House to craft a national anti-galamsey roadmap, George stressed the need for stronger enforcement. “A lot more could be done… We should go all out and win this war, in memory of the eight gallant sons who died in the helicopter crash,” he said, likening galamsey to Colombia’s drug cartels and urging surgical military operations to tackle the crisis, which he called Ghana’s “biggest existential threat.”
