Sammy Gyamfi Blames Weak Mining Systems for Ghana’s Galamsey Crisis
GoldBod CEO says weak formalisation, monitoring and gold traceability have contributed to Ghana’s illegal mining crisis.
- Sammy Gyamfi blames weak mining systems for galamsey.
- He calls for stronger monitoring and traceability.
- He says poor formalisation has worsened illegal mining.
Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Gold Board (GoldBod), Sammy Gyamfi, has attributed Ghana’s persistent illegal mining crisis, popularly known as galamsey, partly to decades of inadequate formalisation and state support for artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM).
Speaking during a Space conversation on X on Sunday, August 9, 2026, with Austine Woode, Mr. Gyamfi said although Ghana took steps to formalise artisanal and small-scale mining in 1989, successive governments failed to provide the necessary support and systems to make the sector sustainable.
He cited inadequate training, capacity building, equipment, monitoring and environmental reclamation efforts as some of the major gaps that have affected the sector over the years.
“Very little was done to provide formalisation support, training, capacity building, and investing in reclamation,” he said.
Mr. Gyamfi also pointed to weaknesses in the registration and monitoring of mining equipment, as well as the absence of effective systems to geofence mining operations and track activities.
He said these shortcomings had allowed illegal and environmentally harmful mining activities to persist, describing galamsey as an “age-long problem.”
According to him, the limited involvement of the state in the domestic gold-buying market also contributed to the challenge, with private buyers historically playing a dominant role.
Mr. Gyamfi questioned whether previous state-backed gold-buying initiatives had sufficient mechanisms to establish the source of gold purchased from small-scale miners.
He referenced the Domestic Gold Purchase Programme introduced in 2021, under which gold was acquired for purposes including the Gold for Oil programme, foreign exchange and reserves.
“But did you ever hear there was traceability under the ex-government? Did you ever hear an effort, even an effort to ensure that the gold they were buying for oil, gold for reserve, gold for forex was traceable?” he asked.
Mr. Gyamfi argued that the absence of a comprehensive gold traceability system made it difficult to establish whether gold purchased by the state came from legally operating miners or from environmentally destructive mining activities.
