The National Democratic Congress (NDC) presidential candidate for Election 2024, former president John Dramani Mahama, has declared that if elected on December 7, 2024, he will fight a “ruthless war” against galamsey [illegal mining] and support ethical small-scale mining methods.

Speaking to the clergy on Tuesday, October 1, 2024, in Accra, Mr. Mahama presented his proposal to alleviate the destruction caused by unlawful small-scale mining, sometimes known as galamsey [a distorted word for gather and sell], with a focus on environmental restoration and stricter mining rules.
According to his plan, all mining concessions would be audited to determine who the beneficial owners are, and if there are any illegal mining activities taking place within their concession areas, these owners will be held responsible.
Along with tightening rules on mining near water bodies and banning new mining licenses in forest reserves, his plan calls for amending the Minerals and Mining Law to punish violators more severely.

In order to restore degraded lands and contaminated waterways, Mr. Mahama said that his administration would launch the “Tree for Life and Blue Water” project.
He declared that all public servants—politicians included—would not be allowed to engage in any kind of mining, legal or illicit.

“We will compel small-scale miners to undertake skills training in modern responsible methods and land reclamation techniques as part of their operations to minimise environmental harm,” Mahama stated.
Mr. Mahama outlined his objectives to enhance the Free Senior High School (SHS) program’s execution in addition to addressing mining-related challenges.

In order to guarantee high-quality education for everyone, he suggested eliminating the double-track system, decentralizing food procurement, and creating a special funding source for the program.