President John Dramani Mahama has pushed back on claims that he ever announced plans to declare a state of emergency over illegal mining (galamsey), explaining why he considers such a measure premature at this stage.

"They said, I said a state of emergency. I never ever said that. I never ever said, I'll declare a state of emergency," he said.

He said state of emergencies are a legitimate tool, but one to be used only as a last resort, given their scope and the rights they suspend.

"State of emergencies are useful, but you declare them as a last resort. State of emergencies, you normally declare in an isolated area and you deal with the issue, you concentrate all your energy there, deal with the issue, and you finish it, and you lift the state of emergency. They are very temporary," he said.

He questioned how such a measure could practically be applied to galamsey, given how widespread the problem is.

"Now, what people don't understand is galamsey is in 10 regions of Ghana. You declare a state of emergency, where are you going to declare the state of emergency?" he asked.

Mahama also stressed the legal consequences that come with declaring a state of emergency, particularly around due process.

"And the thing is, it goes with taking away people's rights. We can arrest you without question and we can detain you without taking you to court. That 48 rule doesn't apply when there's a state of emergency. And so the point is, we still have that power, but we must exercise it as a last resort," he said.

Progress in Forest Reserves

The president said government's current approach has focused on forest reserves that had suffered the worst incursions.

"But let me tell you, we know where the sites are. We have forest reserves that had incursions into them. And so what we've done is we've concentrated on the forest reserves," he said.

"Nine of those forest reserves were considered red zones because the degree of incursion into the forest reserve and the fact that those in those forest reserves were armed and the forest guards could not go into the reserve for fear of their lives," he said.

According to Mahama, the army has since cleared all 9 reserves of illegal miners.

"Today, those nine forest reserves, the army has cleared all the people out of them," he said.

He explained that government had changed its approach to prevent miners from simply returning once the army withdrew.

"And before, what we used to do was when the army clears them, then they hand over to the forest guards. As soon as the army leaves, they come back and they go back into the forest reserve. So it's costing us more. Now, when the army clears them, we set up a military camp at the forest reserve and we leave the army there to prevent them from going back in," he said.

He acknowledged the fight remains difficult.

"And so it's a very complex fight, it's not easy," he said.

Action on Water Bodies

Mahama said similar efforts have extended to affected water bodies, including the Ankobra River.

"The water bodies, we put the water guards on it. A lot of the chanfan machines on the Ankobra have been removed and burnt. We destroy them. And so there's a gradual change in the site of the Ankobra River," he said.