President of IMANI Africa, Franklin Cudjoe, has warned the John Mahama-led government that it will be ‘butubutu’ if the year ends and nothing is done on galamsey.
Franklin Cudjoe’s remarks come after President John Dramani Mahama’s invitation to Civil Society Organisations to a high-level engagement on illegal mining.
The meeting is scheduled for Friday, 3rd October, 2025, at 12:00 noon at Jubilee House.
The dialogue is expected to bring together government officials and civil society leaders to find a lasting solution to the menace of illegal mining.
In a letter issued by Dr Callistus Mahama, Secretary to the President, it indicates the dialogue will serve as a platform for frank and constructive discussions on illegal mining.
The letter stated, “This engagement aims to provide a platform for frank and constructive dialogue between the Government and civil society on the menace of illegal mining, with a view to harnessing collective expertise, perspectives, and solutions to address this national challenge”.
President Mahama’s invitation comes at a time when his government have been receiving backlash over their failure to properly deal with illegal mining.
Reacting to the high-level meeting, Franklin Cudjoe has said that President John Mahama’s invitation to civil society organisations (CSOs) to a dialogue on galamsey is just a meet and greet.
The IMANI president criticised the Mahama government’s over-reliance on dialogues.
According to Franklin Cudjoe, John Mahama, in opposition campaign for more than 12 months, so he knows the problem of the galamsey menace.
Mr Cudjoe noted that President Mahama, in power, has already made his stance that his government is not in a hurry to declare a state of emergency on galamsey.
Speaking in an interview on Eyewitness News on Tuesday, September 30, Mr Cudjoe stated, “Frankly, apart from esprit de corps, as in gathering and meeting on this matter. I don’t know the takeaway from this meeting. Maybe the President wants to hear from us directly, face to face.
I don’t understand the meeting; whatever it is, it’s an opportunity to meet him head-on and say ‘look, this is essential and must be dealt with and some assurances that it will be done,” he said.
Franklin Cudjoe added, “The president campaigned for close to 12 months or more on this issue, so he knows. The Presidency has made its stance known. They are not in a hurry to declare a state of emergency”.
“The measures we have to put in place are to secure the hotspots simultaneously. Those properly registered acquire proper licences to do their work, and those who don’t have licences will be dealt with.
“The meeting is a meet and greet, so far as I’m concerned. We will have to hold the President to account. We need to give ourselves timelines, give ourselves KPIs. If the year ends and we don’t see anything on galamsey, it will be ‘butubutu’ [a problem],” he warned.
Also, Prof Henry Kwasi Prempeh, the Chairman of the Constitutional Review Committee (CRC), has weighed in on Ghana’s failure to fight illegal small-scale mining, popularly known as ‘galamsey’.
He highlighted, it is no surprise that Ghana has failed in the fight against galamsey, as the country cannot regulate ‘trotro’, ‘okada’ and check the proliferation of slum settlements on public land.
In a social media post shared on Facebook on September 29, 2025, Prof Henry Kwasi Prempeh stated, “How can a state that cannot regulate trotro, okada, or aboboyaa, or check the proliferation of slum settlements on public land, fight galamsey! BROKEN WINDOWS!”