The Majority in Parliament has rejected claims by the New Patriotic Party (NPP) that the Ghana Gold Board (GoldBod) activities are contributing to the worsening of illegal mining, popularly known as galamsey.
According to the Majority Caucus, the NPP has not provided concrete evidence to support its claim that GoldBod’s operations are fuelling illegal mining.
The Majority rejected the allegation and maintained that the government has taken significant steps to strengthen the fight against galamsey
The Member of Parliament for Keta, Kwami Dzudzorli Gakpey, speaking to Citi News, stated, “The government is clamping down on galamsey heavily. Look at the water guards; they have been trained, look at the military and NAIMOS being deployed. But the fight is not easy because this fight boils down to livelihoods. People are making a lot of money from this, and we have to try to find alternatives for people and be moving them there gradually.
“So recently, even the Cocoa Bill that we passed, it incorporated that if you want to mine close to water bodies, it should be 500 metres away, even cocoa farms. So these are some of the areas we are tightening the law. It is NPP people who are doing the galamsey. Chairman Wontumi was sent to prison on galamsey charges.”
His comments come on the back of Henry Nana Boakye, the New Patriotic Party (NPP), saying the Ghana Gold Board (GoldBod) is now responsible for the galamsey menace causing havoc on the environment.
According to the NPP, GoldBod is unable to adequately distinguish between gold sourced from licensed mining operations and gold produced through illegal mining.
He argued that GoldBod’s gold purchasing system has created loopholes which have allowed gold produced through illegal mining activities to enter the formal gold trading chain.
Speaking to the media on Tuesday, August 25, 2026, NPP National Organiser Henry Nana Boakye stated, “GoldBod, I can tell you now, is the cause of the environmental destruction we are seeing. They are now responsible for galamsey”.
“If GoldBod is not buying galamsey gold, then who is?” he questioned, insisting that the authorities must provide clear answers on how gold purchased by the state-owned institution is sourced and verified.
Nana Boakye further criticised what he described as repeated assurances that systems were being developed to address the problem of gold traceability.
In related news, Dr Frank Amoakohene, the Ashanti Regional Minister, has revealed that at least 23 people, including 11 children, have died after falling into abandoned illegal mining (galamsey) pits.
According to Dr Frank Amoakohene, 19 bodies have so far been retrieved from the abandoned galamsey pits, with four still trapped underground.
He disclosed that most of the victims were residents who fell into uncovered mining pits while using routes leading to their farms.
Dr Frank Amoakohene expressed concern over the deaths of children, saying 11 of the victims were minors whose lives had been cut short.
Speaking on Monday, August 24, 2026, during the commissioning of the new ultramodern office complex of the Minerals Commission in Kumasi, the Ashanti Region Minister stated, “Twenty-three lives have been lost only because they were on their way to their farms and fell into pits that were left uncovered by miners within the various areas. Only 19 have been recovered from the pits; the remaining four we have not been able to recover”.
“Eleven of them are children whose future has been cut short because someone, in his quest for money, left a pit uncovered within some of these areas that led to farmlands,” he added.
Also, the Regional Minister disclosed that with support from the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources, the region has begun reclaiming and covering abandoned illegal mining pits across affected communities.
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