Beyond Brute Force: Rethinking the fight against galamsey

Ghana’s battle against illegal mining, or galamsey, has long been approached with a mix of brute force crackdowns and policy restrictions.

However, according to Ghanaian structural engineer and inventor Prof Fred McBagonluri, neither hardline enforcement nor leniency will provide a lasting solution.

Instead, he argues, galamsey must be treated as a complex systems dynamics problem—one that requires a scientific and intellectual approach rather than simplistic arrests and punitive measures.

In a recent commentary, Prof McBagonluri underscored the need for a deeper analysis of the socio-economic forces fueling galamsey. He pointed out that young men involved in the trade often lack viable alternatives. Without economic opportunities, they might be drawn into more dangerous activities such as organized crime or extremism.

“Never underestimate the fact that we have been spared violence by young men simply doing galamsey instead of picking up arms,” he wrote, suggesting that galamsey, despite its environmental consequences, has inadvertently provided a form of stability.

He also questioned the economic structures surrounding illegal mining, urging authorities to shift their focus beyond small-scale miners to those who finance and equip them.

“Who imports and owns the excavators?” he asked, implying that true accountability must extend to the top of the supply chain rather than targeting only those on the ground.

Drawing historical parallels, Prof McBagonluri likened galamsey to past migration patterns in Ghana, where economic hardship pushed people to seek opportunities elsewhere—whether in cocoa farms, mines, or even European cities like Berlin in the 1970s. With today’s restrictive immigration policies, he argues, galamsey is a form of “domestic sociological equilibrium,” where people turn to available means to survive.

To truly address the crisis, he advocates for a structured, intellectual approach that models the problem scientifically—balancing economic needs with environmental sustainability. Arresting young miners, he warned, is merely a short-term fix that ignores the deeper systemic issues at play.

Ultimately, Prof McBagonluri’s perspective challenges policymakers to rethink their strategy. Instead of waging a losing battle through force, he calls for a data-driven, socio-economic solution—one that provides alternative livelihoods and acknowledges the broader forces driving illegal mining.

Source: ghextractives.com