President John Dramani Mahama says his government will continue efforts to formalise Ghana’s mining sector as part of a broader strategy to create employment for young people and tackle illegal mining, commonly known as galamsey.
Speaking during his Resetting Ghana tour in the Upper East Region on August 17, 2026, Mahama said the government was combining enforcement with efforts to provide a regulated pathway for mining activities. He also said security personnel had been deployed to some reclaimed forest reserves to prevent illegal minersfrom returning.
Mahama argued that formalising mining could serve two purposes: opening legitimate economic opportunities for young people while giving the state greater oversight of mining operations.
The President’s comments come as his administration continues to face the challenge of balancing Ghana’s mining economy with concerns over environmental destruction associated with illegal operations.
He said formalisation was particularly important in the Upper East Region, where the government wants mining to generate employment under a more controlled framework.
The emphasis on formalisation is not an entirely new policy direction. In 2025, Cabinet approved the Responsible Cooperative Mining and Skills Development Programme (rCOMSDEP), designed to restructure aspects of artisanal and small-scale mining while creating sustainable jobs in mining communities.
Alongside formalisation, Mahama said the government was maintaining enforcement operations against illegal mining.
He cited the work of the National Anti-Illegal Mining Operations Secretariat (NAIMOS) and said authorities had seized excavators and other equipment used in illegal mining activities.
The President also raised a problem that has complicated previous attempts to reclaim degraded mining areas: the return of illegal miners after enforcement teams leave.
According to Mahama, forest guards assigned to protect reclaimed areas had sometimes been forced out by illegal miners, allowing mining activities to resume. He said the government had therefore begun deploying military detachments to some reclaimed forest reserves.
The deployment comes with additional costs, including feeding and providing logistics for personnel stationed in the forests, Mahama acknowledged. He nevertheless maintained that the government would continue the enforcement effort.
These initiatives indicate that the government’s approach is not based solely on removing illegal miners. It also seeks to bring parts of the small-scale mining sector into a regulated system.
Ghana’s galamsey debate has long involved two competing concerns: the economic importance of mining and the environmental damage caused when mining is carried out illegally or without adequate safeguards.
Mahama acknowledged in his 2025 State of the Nation Address that illegal mining had contributed to land degradation and pollution of water sources. He said the government’s response would combine law enforcement, stakeholder engagement and alternative livelihood programmes.
The latest position therefore places job creation and environmental enforcement within the same policy discussion.
For young people in mining communities, formalisation could provide a legal route into the sector. For government, stronger regulation could make it easier to monitor operators and enforce environmental standards.
The key test, however, will be implementation: whether legal mining opportunities can be made viable enough to attract operators while enforcement prevents illegal activity from continuing in protected areas.
