The Ghana Gold Board (GoldBod) has stated that the process of formalising illegal mining does not equate to granting galamsey operators blanket amnesty. The clarification follows criticism of comments made by GoldBod Chief Executive Officer Sammy Gyamfi in a viral social media video, where he suggested miners could be allowed to operate if their activities were not in or near water bodies, forest reserves or roadsides.
Speaking on Channel One TV’s The Big Issue, GoldBod’s Public Relations Officer and Head of Communications Prince Kwame Minkah explained that Mr Gyamfi was looking for creative ways to move illegal miners into a regulated system, not endorsing galamsey. “CEO has not endorsed small‑scale mining which is known in our parlance as galamsey. It is an illegality; all that he was seeking to put out there is a creative means in which we can draw them from that illegal space into a regulated Eco space,” he said.
Minkah added that formalisation would require eligible operators to comply with the law, including licensing requirements, environmental safeguards, training and regulatory oversight. “Formalisation is not a blanket amnesty for illegal mining; it is a structured process for bringing eligible operators into the law, subject to licensing, environmental safeguards, training and regulatory oversight. That is what my CEO was seeking to put out,” he said.
GoldBod’s statement aims to clarify that the board’s approach seeks to bring compliant miners into the legal framework rather than provide unconditional relief to those engaged in illegal mining activities.
