Declare Galamsey Areas as Security Zones – Kofi Bentil

Declare Galamsey Areas as Security Zones and Deploy Military – Kofi Bentil

September 20, 2025

Private legal practitioner and IMANI Africa Vice President, Kofi Bentil, has called for the declaration of galamsey affected areas as security zones to enable military intervention against illegal mining.

Speaking on The Key Points on TV3, Bentil said the government’s lack of political will is the greatest obstacle to ending illegal small-scale mining.
“Declare security zones, let us move our military there and leave them to do the work,” he urged, adding that the army could stop galamsey if given full independence.

He criticised successive administrations for politicising the issue:
“We will not solve galamsey because we are not serious about solving it. They don’t pay any price for failing; they gain a lot for failing the fight. When we politicise everything and change governments, the real kingpins remain untouched.”

However, fellow private legal practitioner Martin Kpebu disagreed, insisting the Police have the capacity to curb galamsey without military deployment.
“Let us exhaust the law. The Police can do the work. A state of emergency is just a paper; it is not a magic wand,” Kpebu argued, noting that current laws already empower police to arrest offenders and halt illegal mining.

President John Dramani Mahama recently reiterated his reluctance to declare a state of emergency, explaining that existing legal powers are sufficient for enforcement.
“We have the opportunity to arrest anybody, to confiscate any such thing. The laws for forest protection give us enough powers to act,” he said at a September 10 media encounter.

Mahama also announced plans to repeal Legislative Instrument (L.I.) 2462, which permits mining in forest reserves, to reinforce environmental protection. Acting Environment Minister Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah has already requested the Attorney General to revoke L.I. 2462 and its amendment L.I. 2501 to strengthen Ghana’s anti-galamsey regulatory framework.

The revocation aims to end decades of environmental destruction, safeguard water bodies, and enforce responsible mining practices through the Environmental Protection Agency and programmes like the Responsible Cooperative Mining and Skills Development Programme (rCOMSDEP).