By Daniel Bampoe
The Centre for Democratic Movement (CDM), a leading civil society watchdog, has delivered a scathing critique of President John Dramani Mahama’s administration, accusing it of gross negligence and policy betrayal in the fight against illegal mining—popularly known as galamsey—which continues to ravage Ghana’s environment and public health.
The CDM’s statement, issued this week, paints a dire picture of environmental collapse and government inaction.
According to the group, the Mahama-led National Democratic Congress (NDC) government has not only failed to fulfill its 2024 campaign promises to address illegal mining, but has also demonstrated complicity through silence, underfunding, and what they describe as deliberate policy failures.
Campaign Promises Unfulfilled
During the 2024 election cycle, President Mahama and the NDC pledged sweeping reforms to sanitize the small-scale mining sector and restore degraded lands. Among their headline commitments were:
A full audit of all mining concessions;
Prosecution of illegal mining operators;
A total ban on mining in forest reserves and water bodies;
The launch of the “Tree for Life” and “Blue Water Initiative” to reclaim polluted lands;
The creation of the Ghana Gold Board (GOLDBOD) to regulate artisanal mining activities.
However, nearly a half year into Mahama’s second term, environmental activists say these promises have not been met with tangible action.
“What we are witnessing under Mahama’s leadership is not just inaction; it is complicity,” CDM’s statement read.
Rivers Turn Toxic
The CDM catalogued the worsening environmental degradation in key regions across the country, citing specific rivers that have suffered from extensive pollution due to unregulated mining.
These include:
Pra River, which is now considered unsafe for drinking or irrigation;
Ankobra River, contaminated with chemical waste;
Offin and Tano Rivers, turned toxic, depriving nearby communities of clean water;
Birim River, once a symbol of Eastern Region’s natural beauty, now reduced to a mercury-laced sludge.
“These rivers are not just water sources,” the CDM emphasized.
“They are the lifelines of communities, ecosystems, and local economies. The silence from the Mahama government amounts to a green light for environmental crime.”
A Budget Without Vision
Perhaps the most damning claim from the group is the government’s failure to back its environmental pledges with funding.
The CDM noted that the 2025 national budget makes no allocation for land reclamation or restoration efforts. More controversially, it reveals that while GOLDBOD received a substantial US$279 million for gold purchases, there was “not a single cedi” allocated to environmental recovery.
“This is not an oversight,” the group charged. “It is a deliberate policy decision that prioritizes revenue over restoration—greed over green.”
According to the CDM, this contradiction is “a cruel irony,” with a state institution profiting from the mining sector while ignoring the destruction it causes.
They argue that unless gold revenue is reinvested in environmental restoration, GOLDBOD risks becoming an enabler of the very crisis it was created to resolve.
Demands for Urgent Action
Calling the situation “an environmental catastrophe,” CDM has issued a set of urgent demands to the government. These include:
1. A public disclosure of all illegal mining concessions and the individuals or entities behind them;
2. A nationwide moratorium on all mining activities in water bodies, enforced by neutral, non-political security forces;
3. A parliamentary inquiry into the government’s handling of the galamsey crisis, with recommendations for prosecution where necessary;
4. The declaration of a State of Emergency in all affected communities and regions.
The group argues that such a declaration is not only justified but long overdue, pointing out that the NDC itself called for emergency action when in opposition.
“To now shy away from that commitment is hypocrisy of the highest order,” the CDM said.
Test of Leadership
As the galamsey menace continues to threaten food security, water supply, and biodiversity, pressure is mounting on the Mahama administration to act decisively.
“If President Mahama cannot take action to save our rivers, then he is no different from those destroying them,” the statement concluded. “Posterity will remember not just the miners with mercury, but also the leaders who looked away while Ghana bled.”
