Professor Stephen Adei, a former Chairman of the National Development Planning Commission (NDPC), has launched a strong critique of the government’s gold-trading initiative, the Gold Board (GoldBod), describing it as a move that effectively legalises illegal mining, known locally as galamsey.
In a video that has gone viral on social media, Professor Adei accused the Mahama administration of enabling the destructive practice under the guise of formalising small-scale mining through GoldBod.
He alleged that political actors, traditional leaders and security agencies are the real forces behind the widespread degradation of Ghana’s water bodies, many of which he said now contain dangerous levels of turbidity and harmful chemicals.
“Who are the galamseyers? The politicians, the chiefs, and the security agents are responsible for polluting the whole of water sources in Ghana. They have a way of making it look nice,” he said.
“For example, the current government, which in many ways is doing well, has legalised galamsey. GoldBod is the legalisation of galamsey. We buy from the small-scale miners; if we’re able to distinguish between the small-genuine gold miners and the galamseyers, we could have stopped the galamseyers,” Professor Adei claimed.
According to him, the creation of a centralised state buyer for gold suggests an intention to accommodate the output of illegal miners rather than confront the root of environmental devastation.
He contended that by creating a national market for gold sourced from small-scale miners—whose operations often overlap with illegal mining—the government is effectively “laundering” the proceeds of environmental destruction.
GoldBod was set up with the stated aim of formalising the gold trading value chain, particularly for small-scale miners, and enhancing traceability within the industry.
Under the policy, the entity serves as the exclusive buyer of gold from licensed small-scale miners through accredited aggregators.
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