Opinions of Friday, 9 January 2026

Columnist: Kofi Thompson

Galamsey fight: Wouldn't it be tragic if we allowed party politics to divide us?

A scenes from a galamsey site A scenes from a galamsey site

Dear critical reader, as the resetting of our bankrupted national economy proceeds apace, concurrently with the fight to end ruinous galamsey nationwide, the question we ought to ponder over, as wise, aspirational and farsighted Africans is: in the battle against calamitous galamsey, wouldn't it be tragic if we allowed party politics to divide us?

That said, Ghanafuor, with the greatest respect, hasn't the time now come for us to ditch the fuzzy thinking that blinds us to the fact that landscape remediation and regeneration of the forested areas destroyed by galamsey is a multi-billion-dollar positive-tipping-point green economy value-creation opportunity, which could provide jobs galore and wealth that remains in local communities affected by illegal and legal surface gold mining in biodiversity-rich rainforests nationwide?

In light of that, as the destruction caused by galamseyers can now apparently be seen from space, why don't we offer players in the Global North's private sector space industry the opportunity to fund Ghanaian community-based landscape regeneration and restoration projects to neutralise some of the sector's massive carbon footprint, I ask, Ghanafuor?

Wouldn't that make a difference and spare hapless taxpayers too?

Finally, Ghanafuor, one ends this food for thought with the simple patriotic admonition: "Over to you, Joe Lartey!" to the Mahama 2.0 administration. A word to the wise.

#GhanaRising #SustainabilityInAction #GreenEconomy #EndGalamsey #SpaceForGood #GhanafuorUnite #BiodiversityGhana