Pressure group, OccupyGhana, has reiterated the call for the President to declare a state of emergency in the fight against illegal mining (galamsey).
Attached below is a copy of the open letter
Our Ref: OG/2025/002
Accra, 3 October 2025
RE: GALAMSEY REMINDER (NO 1) – DECLARE A STATE OF EMERGENCY IN ALL MINING AREAS
Mr President:
Today, 3 October 2025 marks exactly three years since we issued our attached, first weekly ‘Galamsey Reminder,’ as titled above, to President Akufo-Addo, demanding immediate and radical action to address the unprecedented scale of illegal and unregulated mining.
Our key points were as follows:
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Constitutional Basis for Action: That under article 31(9) of the Constitution, the situation qualified as a state of emergency, since illegal mining threatened the essentials of life, public safety and national survival.
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Existential Threat: That Ghana risked losing its very essence as a nation unless urgent measures were taken to stop Galamsey and establish a sustainable system to regulate artisanal mining.
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Concrete Demand: That the President should:
- Seek the Council of State’s advice,
- Issue a Proclamation in the Gazette, and
- Recall Parliament (then in recess) to debate and ratify the emergency declaration. -
Offer of Partnership: That we were ready to provide proposals for creating a regulated artisanal mining industry that benefits all Ghanaians.
The bottom line was that the Galamsey menace had reached emergency levels requiring constitutional intervention. We therefore pressed the Government to act decisively, declaring a state of emergency in all mining areas to protect lives, water, lands and the nation’s future.
This reminder met the same fate as our earlier one of 28 September 2022 (which we sent to you last week) — no acknowledgment, no response and no action. Mr President, we raise this again on the third anniversary of that reminder because the crisis has only worsened dramatically. Indeed, in the words of Acting Chief Justice Paul Baffoe-Bonnie on 15 September 2025 at the 2025 Annual Conference of the Ghana Bar Association in Wa, the ‘existential threat’ that Galamsey is, ‘has become worse.’ Sir, the case for declaring a targeted State of Emergency in affected mining areas is today even more urgent and compelling than it was three years ago.
Yours in the Service of God and Ghana,
OccupyGhana
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