President John Dramani Mahama has said he never promised to declare a state of emergency to fight illegal mining activities, locally known as galamsey.

During a town hall meeting with the Ghanaian community in the Tri-State Area of the United States of America, the President was quizzed about why he had failed to declare a state of emergency despite allegedly saying so during his campaign before assuming office.

In response, President Mahama debunked the claim and insisted that he did not make such a comment, clarifying that a state of emergency would only be used as a last resort.

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He explained that the measure would not be useful at the moment because galamsey takes place across 10 regions of the country, making it difficult to deal with the issue at one point.

“I never ever said that. I never said I'd declare a state of emergency, but states of emergency are useful; you declare them as a last resort. If you declare a state of emergency, you normally declare it in an isolated area, and you deal with the issue. You concentrate all your energy there and deal with the issue. And you finish it, and you lift the state of emergency. They are very temporary.

“Now, what people don't understand is that galamsey is in 10 regions of Ghana. You declare a state of emergency; where are you going to declare the state of emergency? And the thing is, it goes with taking away people's rights. We can arrest you without question. And we can detain you without taking you to court.

“That 48-hour rule doesn't apply when there's a state of emergency. And so the point is, we still have that power, but we must exercise it as a last resort,” he said during the meeting on September 25, 2026.

The President further indicated that the government is tackling the menace decisively, with a focus on forest reserves with the use of security personnel.

“We have forest reserves that have had incursions into them. And so what we've done is we've concentrated on the forest reserves.

“Nine of those forest reserves were considered red zones because of the degree of incursion into the forest reserves and the fact that those in those forest reserves were armed, and the forest guards could not go into the reserve for fear of their lives. Today, in those nine forest reserves, the army has cleared all the people out of them,” he added.

Watch the video below:

LIVE | Galamsey: "I never ever said I'll declare a state of emergency..." — President Mahama, as he answers questions on the fight against illegal mining in Ghana, during a town hall meeting with the Ghanaian community in the Tri-State Area, United States. pic.twitter.com/V68Tygse8v

— The1957News (@The1957News) September 26, 2026