The Media Foundation for West Africa has concluded a high-level national multi-stakeholder dialogue on Ghana’s illegal mining crisis, commonly known as galamsey, culminating in the release of a detailed communiqué calling for decisive and coordinated national action.
The two-day High-Level National Multi-Stakeholder Dialogue, held in Koforidua on October 28 and October 29, 2025, brought together representatives from Parliament, government institutions, traditional and religious authorities, civil society organisations, academia, the private sector, and the media. Participants engaged in frank deliberations on the scale, drivers, and consequences of illegal mining, with a shared focus on mobilising broad-based citizen consensus around sustainable solutions.
In the communiqué issued at the close of the dialogue, stakeholders warn that illegal mining has evolved into a systemic governance failure, with far-reaching implications for water security, food systems, public health, social cohesion, and national security. They argue that the persistence of galamsey is not the result of weak laws, but of inconsistent enforcement, political interference, and deep polarisation that has undermined accountability across institutions.
The document frames the galamsey crisis as a critical test of Ghana’s democratic maturity and governance capacity. It calls on political leaders, state institutions, traditional and religious authorities, the private sector, civil society, the media, and citizens to move beyond partisan considerations and embrace a shared national responsibility to protect the country’s land, water bodies, and long-term development prospects.
The recommendations outlined in the document span legal and regulatory reforms, enforcement and institutional capacity, community leadership and participation, sustainable livelihood alternatives, environmental protection, financial oversight, and national accountability mechanisms. The recommendations suggest a coherent pathway for breaking the cycle of inertia and selective enforcement that has allowed illegal mining to persist despite its well-documented harms.
The dialogue and communiqué reflect a growing recognition that addressing galamsey requires not only technical fixes, but sustained enforcement and political will, social consensus, and civic vigilance.
Download the communiqué
The full communiqué issued at the end of the High-Level National Multi-Stakeholder Dialogue on the illegal mining crisis is available below.
