By Ibrahim Abode

Former Executive Director of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Dr John Kingsley Krugu, has strongly criticised President John Dramani Mahama over his handling of illegal mining, popularly known as galamsey.

President Mahama, who recently marked nine months in office following his re-election, engaged Ghanaian journalists at the State House in Accra on Wednesday, September 10, 2025, to address questions on national issues.

Reacting to the President’s remarks, Dr Krugu, who previously served under a different administration, expressed his disappointment in a Facebook post, stating:

"I listened to President Mahama yesterday and wondered if this is what the people voted against the NPP for? The President’s posture on galamsey was nothing short of disappointing. Instead of urgency, we got excuses, as if this is not the party that demanded a state of emergency in opposition. Instead of leadership, we got complicity, with the president acknowledging how his administration is benefiting from Galamsay.

To blame the police for “not knowing the difference” between legal and illegal miners is a dangerous fallacy. Who licensed small-scale miners in forest reserves? Who allowed operations on riverbanks from Pra to Ankobra? In any civilised society, is law enforcement told to stay away from nature crimes?

And to suggest illegal miners can’t be stopped until we provide them alternatives? That’s like telling armed robbers to keep robbing until jobs are found for them. Our rivers are poisoned, 44 forest reserves scarred, cocoa under threat, and babies born with deformities — yet the President reduces a national emergency to political spin.

This is not the leadership Ghana asked for in December 2024. It emboldens galamseyers, undermines genuine enforcement, and repeats the same disastrous mistakes we saw before. Mr President, history will not forgive this betrayal."

Dr Krugu, who is now the Executive Director of Eco-bliss Climate, stressed that the fight against galamsey requires decisive leadership and a sense of urgency rather than what he described as excuses and political rhetoric.