President John Dramani Mahama has conceded that illegal mining—commonly referred to as galamsey—remains deeply rooted in Ghana, involving individuals across political and traditional leadership structures.

Speaking at a meeting with Organised Labour at the Jubilee House on Tuesday, March 17, 2026, he warned that the fight against the practice will be complex and prolonged.

He described the scale of the problem as systemic, noting its wide reach across society.

“Illegal mining has eaten into the fabric of our society. And I must say that it is not only a menace to our society, but it has involved a circle of traditional rulers, political party appointees and everything,” he said.

The President pointed out that the continuity of illegal mining operations is often driven by political transitions, with operators adapting to new administrations.

“Even when one party changes, those who were running some operation, who went to one party, will go to the next party and say, now that you have come, come and take over this operation and let’s share. We too will be getting small; this is what we are doing. And so I don’t kid myself that we don’t have our own people involved,” he stated.

He acknowledged that enforcement efforts face resistance at the grassroots level, complicating the work of the task force.

“And the work of the NAIMOS is not easy. They go to a community, and the chiefs, the youth and everybody come out and resist them. And so I didn’t kid myself that we will be able to win that fight overnight. But we cannot relent, we must continue,” he said.

President Mahama also connected the issue to economic pressures in the cocoa sector, suggesting that declining returns have pushed some farmers toward illegal mining.

“And it doesn’t help when we have crisis in the cocoa industry. The low price that was paid to cocoa farmers made some of them give up their farms for gold mining,” he noted.

He expressed hope that reforms in cocoa pricing will help stem the trend.

“We are hoping that it will stabilise with the new automatic mechanism we are coming up with so that farmers know that they are getting 70% of the price,” he said.

Highlighting operational challenges, the President cited inadequate logistics, especially the absence of patrol boats for sustained monitoring of rivers and forest reserves.

“One of the problems we have is we don’t have patrol boats, especially on our waterways, for nine months to continue to patrol the waterways,” he explained.

He said efforts are underway to address these constraints through collaboration with key ministries.

“So we are working with the minister of finance to be able to maintain that,” he said.