SONA: Galamsey fight negatively impacted my second term as President – Akufo-Addo

President Nana Akufo-Addo has lamented that his second term in office was gravely affected by his commitment to the fight against illegal mining, known locally as ‘galamsey’.

Delivering his final ‘State of the Nation Address’ on Friday, 3rd December, the President reflected on his bold pledge to put his presidency on the line to tackle the devastating effects of illegal mining on the country’s environment.

He noted that this commitment contributed to the New Patriotic Party’s (NPP) loss of several parliamentary seats in mining areas, which resulted in a hung parliament and impacted policy implementation during his second term from 2020–2024.

President Akufo-Addo stated:

The fight against galamsey led directly to the loss by my party of several parliamentary seats in the 2020 election and to the makeup of this 8th Parliament, which affected the implementation of my policy agenda and impacted the second term of my presidency.

I welcome the many loud converts to the fight against galamsey that suddenly appeared in the run-up to the 2024 elections, and I pray that more and more of us get to embrace the need for the protection of our lands and water bodies.

The President, however, pointed out that his administration had implemented bold and progressive policies in the mining, forestry, and land sectors, arguing that the fight against illegal mining was not aimed at stopping the extraction of the country’s resources.

He disclosed:

As a result of these policies, we overtook South Africa as the leading producer of gold on the continent and have consistently increased gold production to reach an unprecedented 4 million ounces last year. Not only have we revamped dormant mines like the Obuasi and Bibiani mines, but we have also worked to deliver the Cardinal Namdini mine, the first large-scale mine in northern Ghana and the first Greenfield gold mine in our country in more than a decade.

Akufo-Addo added:

Under the Ghana Forest Plantation Strategy, some 121,000 hectares of degraded forests were cultivated between 2017 and 2023. Under the Green Ghana Project, over 52 million trees have been planted. In just four years of its implementation, in 2023, Ghana became the second country in Africa and the third in the world to receive results-based payments from the World Bank Carbon Fund for reducing emissions under the Ghana Cocoa REDD Programme.

In his address, the President also touched on the growing issue of chieftaincy disputes in the country, stressing the need to strengthen key government institutions such as the Chieftaincy Ministry and the National Peace Council.

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