Ing. Dr. Kenneth Ashigbey, Chief Executive of the Ghana Chamber of Mines has appealed to President John Dramani Mahama to act swiftly to end illegal mining (galamsey), warning that the president's window in doing so is closing.

Speaking on Starr FM's 'Starr Chat' with Bola Ray, Dr Ashigbey asserted that President Mahama is Ghana's "last hope" of ending galamsey. 

He said Mr Mahama does not need a third term to do so, however.

He urged the president to recognise he does not have the luxury of waiting until the end of his second tenure to tackle galamsey as the governing National Democratic Congress (NDC) would soon elect a new leader for the 2028 elections.

"Unfortunately, he does not have the end of his tenure to be able to do that. Very soon he'll become a lame duck. Once the NDC selects who is going to be their candidate. He needs to do what he has to do today. The time is now. I believe he can do it," Dr Ken Ashigbey said.

His comments come as Ghana grapples with the scale of destruction caused by illegal mining.

The country has lost an estimated 8,900 hectares of forest reserves to this menace, an area equivalent to about 12,500 football fields, according to figures disclosed by the Minister for Lands and Natural Resources, Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah, during a policy dialogue with the IMANI Centre for Policy and Education in Accra.

Mr Buah said 9 out of Ghana's 288 forest reserves have been severely affected by illegal mining with significant pressure also being placed on the Forestry Commission personnel tasked with protecting the affected areas.

The government has acknowledged that prosecuting suspects remains a major challenge in the fight against galamsey. 

However, figures from the ministry, covering operations up to July 2026, show that 258 people have been arrested in connection with illegal mining activities in forest reserves.