Minister for Communications, Digital Technology and Innovation, Sam Nartey George, has described as “unfair” the expectation that President John Mahama should have resolved the country’s illegal mining challenge—commonly known as galamsey—within just 96 days of returning to office.

In an interview on Channel One TV on Monday, April 14, Mr. George said that although efforts are underway to curb the menace, it is unrealistic to expect a complete solution to a problem that has persisted for nearly a decade.

He argued that it was unreasonable to expect President Mahama to fix such a complex issue in a matter of weeks—especially when the previous administration, led by Nana Akufo-Addo, had eight years but failed to resolve it.

Responding to criticism over his past comments on galamsey, Mr. George addressed remarks he made during Akufo-Addo’s presidency, in which he said, “The President at the time (former President Akufo-Addo) could have dealt with galamsey in a week because he was Commander-in-Chief.”

Clarifying the context, he stated:

“When I made those comments about President Akufo-Addo, I didn’t make them at the beginning of his term. I made them about three months to the end of his term. He had the opportunity and had expended taxpayers’ money on Operation Vanguard, yet we saw instances where the very people meant to fight the menace became complicit in it. At the time of my criticism, President Akufo-Addo had been in office for almost eight years, with full control of the state machinery and ample opportunity to act.”

Mr. George also highlighted progress made under President Mahama within just two months, revealing that seven forest reserves had already been recovered from illegal miners.

“Can we do more? Absolutely. Do I expect to see more? Certainly. But again, like I said, it would be unfair to expect that in 90 days, one man can clean up the mess of another that took eight years to create,” he added.

The Minister emphasised that illegal mining remains a serious offence and must be addressed regardless of political affiliation.

He concluded by declaring that he considers galamsey a crime against humanity, and stressed the need for a non-partisan, collective approach to eradicating it, irrespective of which party is in government or who is involved.