Mahama’s GoldBod is ‘legalised galamsey’ – Prof Adei

Former Chairman of the National Development Planning Commission (NDPC), Professor Stephen Adei has sharply criticised the government’s gold-trading initiative, the Gold Board (GoldBod), claiming it essentially legalises illegal mining, locally known as galamsey.

In a video circulating widely on social media, Professor Adei accused the Mahama administration of promoting environmental destruction under the pretext of formalising small-scale mining through GoldBod.

He alleged that politicians, traditional leaders, and security agencies are the real drivers of the widespread pollution of Ghana’s water bodies, many of which he said are now dangerously contaminated with chemicals and high levels of turbidity.

“Who are the galamseyers? The politicians, the chiefs, and the security agents are responsible for polluting Ghana’s water sources. They make everything look acceptable,” he said.

He further argued that although the government has made progress in some areas, GoldBod represents a subtle endorsement of galamsey.
“GoldBod is the legalisation of galamsey. We buy from small-scale miners, but if we could clearly distinguish genuine small-scale miners from galamsey operators, we could have stopped the latter,” he asserted.

Professor Adei claimed that creating a centralised, state-controlled gold buyer suggests the government intends to accommodate gold from illegal miners instead of tackling the root causes of environmental destruction.

By establishing a national market for gold produced by small-scale miners whose operations often overlap with illegal mining, he argued the government is effectively “laundering” the proceeds of galamsey.

GoldBod was introduced to formalise the gold value chain, especially for small-scale miners, and to improve traceability in the industry.

Under the policy, the entity acts as the sole buyer of gold from licensed small-scale miners through approved aggregators.