Stop ‘meet and greet,’ take action on galamsey – Franklin Cudjoe to Mahama

President of IMANI Africa, Franklin Cudjoe, has criticised what he sees as the government’s over-reliance on dialogues in addressing illegal mining, commonly known as galamsey, stressing that it is time for concrete action.

His remarks come ahead of a high-level meeting convened by President John Dramani Mahama with leading civil society organisations (CSOs) at the Jubilee House on Friday, October 3, 2025. The engagement, scheduled for 12pm, is expected to consider sustainable solutions to the environmental and social damage caused by galamsey.

Speaking in an interview on Eyewitness News with Sammie Wiafe on Tuesday, September 30, Mr. Cudjoe welcomed the attention given to the crisis but cast doubt on the purpose of the meeting.

“Frankly, apart from esprit de corps, as in gathering and meeting on this matter. I don’t know the takeaway from this meeting. Maybe the President wants to hear from us directly, face to face. I don’t understand the meeting; whatever it is, it’s an opportunity to meet him head-on and say ‘look, this is essential and must be dealt with and some assurances that it will be done,” he said.

Mr. Cudjoe noted that President Mahama had campaigned extensively on the issue of illegal mining and therefore should already be aware of its urgency.

He added that while the Presidency has made its stance clear on not rushing into declaring a state of emergency, more decisive steps are needed.

“The president campaigned for close to 12 months or more on this issue, so he knows.  The Presidency has made its stance known. They are not in a hurry to declare a state of emergency,” he noted.

He proposed securing illegal mining hotspots simultaneously and ensuring that only properly registered miners with licences are allowed to operate, while those without licences are sanctioned.

Describing the upcoming meeting as “a meet and greet,” the IMANI Africa president stressed the need to hold the government accountable with clear timelines

“The measures we have to put in place are to secure the hotspots simultaneously. Those properly registered acquire proper licences to do their work, and those who don’t have licences will be dealt with.

“The meeting is a meet and greet, so far as I’m concerned. We will have to hold the President to account. We need to give ourselves timelines, give ourselves KPIs. If the year ends and we don’t see anything on galamsey, it will be ‘butubutu’ [a problem],” he warned.