A former National Security Minister, Francis Poku has said the government’s reliance on military and police crackdowns to stop illegal mining will not succeed unless the state addresses the strong economic pull that keeps many young people in galamsey.
Speaking in a television interview with TV3 on Tuesday [September 30, 2025, Mr Poku said some illegal miners make between GH¢40,000 and GH¢70,000 a week, an income far higher than most legal jobs or government livelihood programmes currently provide.
He said this gap explains why illegal mining has endured despite repeated security operations.
“Young people are not leaving galamsey because the economic attraction is enormous,” he said. “Some are earning up to GH¢70,000 a week. As long as that reality exists and the alternatives cannot compete, security crackdowns will not end the practice.”
Mr Poku stressed that Ghana cannot rely solely on security measures to deal with the problem.
He urged the government to rethink its strategy and create alternative livelihoods that are strong enough to pull people away from illegal mining.
“Force has its place, but it cannot be the only solution,” he said. “We must create alternatives that are attractive enough to draw people away from galamsey. Without that, the cycle will continue, and the problem will become even more entrenched.”
The former minister also pointed to a growing security threat if the economic drivers of galamsey are left unchecked.
He noted that armed groups around mining sites are becoming more organised and could evolve into insurgent-type actors if the state fails to deal with the structural incentives behind the trade.
“The economic strength behind galamsey is now so strong that we must treat it as a national security issue,” Mr Poku said.
“If we continue to rely only on force without addressing the economic side, we risk a situation that will be far more difficult to control.”
