Schandorf Writes: Is galamsey fight lost? An open letter to Oliver Barker-Vormawor

Dear Oliver,
October is here! The commencement of a new month and the beginning of the last quarter of 2026.

As you’re already aware, October is dedicated to breast cancer awareness, bringing natural attention to breasts — a feature many men like.

Indeed, all around the world, when men have the legitimacy to handle them, they usually seize the chance to do more, and so I’m convinced that as I write this letter, a certain man somewhere is relaxing his head on one, or greedily forcing his mouth on two at the same time.

Now, if our greedy brother lives in Tema, he can go ahead and fondle and do other things without any fear.

But if he lives in a heavily polluted mining community like Kyebi or Osino, he may need to think twice because if his devotion to breast leads him to impregnate the breast owner, he stands the risk of having an incomplete or totally deformed child, due to the exposure to galamsey pollutants that affect reproductive and developmental health.

I am therefore happy that you continue to shed light on this canker — except that this time around, it is difficult to accept your recent verdict that the fight against galamsey has been lost, and I’ll explain why.

First of all, let me put on record that there is absolutely nobody in this government who is under the illusion that galamsey has disappeared or that Ghana’s rivers have suddenly returned to their best states.

The truth we shouldn’t ignore, however, is that galamsey did not start today. Neither did it start last year. It is a crisis that has eaten into our environment over the years, and therefore the devastation accumulated over the years cannot be reversed overnight.

If we agree on this basic fact, why then should we throw our hands up in despair and declare that the fight has been lost?

For the avoidance of doubt, the continued existence of a problem cannot, on its own, be conclusive evidence that the fight against it has failed, and that’s why once again I strongly disagree with you.

Because of my job, you and other readers may dismiss my position as a mere PR response to amplify the government and, by extension, my bosses, but that is not the case at all.

I see the work at close. I see the frustrations, the meetings, the operations, and the constant review of policies when existing approaches are not producing the desired results, and, to be frank, the fight is not lost at all.

To me, a truly lost fight is one in which those entrusted with fighting have thrown in the towel. But if the principal warriors are still firing on all cylinders, strengthening enforcement and changing strategy where necessary, where exactly is this declaration of defeat coming from?

Take excavators, for example. Between 2017 and 2024, thousands of excavators entered the country without any proper regulatory oversight to prevent their abuse.

As I write, however, the government, under the directive and policy direction of the sector minister, Hon. Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah, has made the importation and clearing of excavators so difficult that at the moment, over 1,400 excavators are sitting idle at the ports because their owners cannot justify their entry.

Today, importers require prior approval before shipment, while registered excavators are being fitted with electronic tracking devices to enable real-time monitoring of their movement and use. Is that the picture of a lost fight?

Let me steal some time to speak about changfans. These machines have become some of the most destructive weapons deployed against our rivers. The government has moved against their fabrication, importation, sale, and use, while NAIMOS and other enforcement agencies continue to seize, immobilise, and destroy those found operating illegally.

As of July this year, authorities had seized or immobilised 1,724 changfan machines in anti-galamsey operations. Again, is this evidence of a fight that has been lost? When there are many decent gains to list?

At this point, one may quickly say that effort is not results. Yes. Effort is not results. Ghanaians will actually judge this fight not by the number of meetings held, policies announced, or operations conducted, but by the tangible changes in our rivers, forests, and mining communities.

However, results also do not emerge from a vacuum. They are products of the same sustained effort, enforcement, policy, political will, and, more importantly, time.

So yes! There are still rivers that offend the eye. There are still illegal miners who behave with impunity. And there are still legitimate questions about arrests, prosecutions, deterrence, and whether our interventions are producing results quickly enough, but the fight is not lost!

Acknowledging that the results are not yet where we want them to be is one thing. Declaring the entire fight lost is another, and the distinction must be clarified.

Perhaps, just like others have done, you could stop by the Lands Ministry one of these days. Not so that we can convince you with PowerPoint presentations or government PR, but so that you can interrogate the interventions yourself, ask the difficult questions, and see the intensity of the work being deployed daily.

As the sector minister, Hon. Buah, has stressed, the fight against galamsey is a MARATHON, NOT A SPRINT.

This means we cannot be looking at the finishing line too quickly, but rest assured, with the focus and enormous political will of His Excellency President John Dramani Mahama, this too shall pass!

So, my brother Oliver, keep the pressure coming. Keep asking the uncomfortable questions. Keep holding our feet to the fire, but in the midst of it all, the fight against galamsey has not been lost!

Thank you once again for your spirited advocacy for Ghana, and may October be kind to us all.

Your brother,
Paa Kwesi Schandorf
Spokesperson, Lands Ministry