The Ashanti Regional Secretary of the Ghana National Association of Small Scale Miners (GNASSM), Michael Adu-Gyamfi, is calling on the government to overhaul what he describes as a fractured and unaccountable approach to fighting illegal mining, or galamsey.
Speaking in an interview on Monday June 30, Mr. Adu-Gyamfi expressed concern over a rise in uncoordinated anti-galamsey task forces swarming mining sites often without clear mandates or uniform command structures.
“In my jurisdiction, I have five zones. On any given day, you may find three or four different operation teams showing up at the same site, all claiming to be acting on behalf of the state”.
This patchwork of enforcement has, according to him, created fertile ground for abuse.
He mentioned that, small-scale miners in the region now face what he calls “intimidation and extortion,” allegedly at the hands of individuals misrepresenting themselves as government operatives.
Adu-Gyamfi questioned the increasing involvement of the Minerals Development Fund (MDF), a body historically tasked with managing mining-related development projects in leading direct enforcement operations.
“We cannot even understand what Dr. Hannah Bissiw is doing. The MDF has never functioned as a task force before. When did this start?” he asked, demanding clarity on institutional roles.
