The writer
As I sat thinking about Galamsey and recent imposition of taxes in the country, the question came to mind as to whether there will be an imposition of a Galamsey Tax on a commodity like pure water.
This is not a prescription but a prediction. We recall from history that people were talking on phone, so the government introduced the Talk Tax not to stop people from talking but to raise money to support the Budget.
COVID-19 came, and in its trail, the government introduced the COVID Tax not so that there will be no COVID but just so that the government will raise money to support the health sector.
We had electricity challenges and the government imposed the Electricity generation levy on fuel called the “Dumsor Tax”. This too was not so that there will be no Dumsor but just so that the government would raise money to support the power generation.
I, therefore, find it very difficult to resist the temptation of predicting that one of these days there will be the imposition of a Galamsey tax. Just as in previous instances, the purpose of this tax will not be to ensure that there will be no Galamsey or even to ensure that there will be improved water quality. It will be to raise money to support the budget in fighting galamsey. But, before we think of imposing any tax on Galamsey let us think about the cost of Galamsey to the nation and the need to deal with the Galamsey business.
The President’s Frustration
It is reported that the President, in addressing organized labour on the Galamsey matter in the Jubilee House on 17 March 2026, poured out his frustration on the challenges encountered in the Galamsey fight admitting that political players have made it difficult to fight the menace. Of course, he only stated the obvious.
That is a well-known fact and people have always doubted the sincerity of political leaders in the fight against Galamsey.
To remove this doubt from the minds of the people, political leaders would be required to put in place a more concrete action plan to assure the citizenry of their sincerity and commitment at fighting this menace.
The dangers of Galamsey cannot be over emphasised. It has taken away the beauty of our environment and in return it has given us poisoned environment.
The water bodies and all the resources they contain like fishes and clean portable water are polluted.
The fertile soils are gone with the pollution with a huge toll on food safety. The experts advise us to consume fresh vegetables, fruits, seeds and nuts. With this level of pollution from Galamsey no one is safe eating these things produced from our own environment.
Reports from health facilities like Korle Bu and others have given indications of failed kidneys and damaged livers at alarming rates. The costs associated with these risks would far outweigh any benefits we think Galamsey would bring to the nation.
Well, a few individuals would certainly benefit substantially but the cost to the nation is beyond measure. For instance, the cocoa industry is at risk of extinction, both as a relatively less attractive competitor to Galamsey business and also the risk of cocoa beans getting poisoned from the soil thanks to Galamsey. The world market may reject cocoa produced from our soils.
The Strategic Approach To Dealing With The Galamsey Menace
It would do the President a lot of good if he took a strategic approach to deal with the Galamsey fight.
The President would need to assemble experts drawn from the relevant sectors to design a strategic action programme that would ensure proper focus on the challenge.
The experts would do a SWOT Analysis of the matter. They would look at the Strengths (S), the Weaknesses (W), the Opportunities (O) and the Threats (T) of the whole system.
Once they identify all the issues, they would prepare strategic work steps to address each of them, indicating the specific objectives of each work step.
It would be a requirement that they assign responsibilities for each key area and indicate timelines for each action or work step.
The plan would include the indication of logistics, resources and budgets for each action or work step. This would indicate the cost of the fight.
A reporting framework would be put in the plan to ensure that all stakeholders are kept informed about the progress being made on the matter.
The President may do the “Fellow Ghanaians” series periodically to inform the people and carry them along and to assure the people of the government’s and his personal commitment.
Of course, as they say, it is easier said than done, but once a holistic approach is taken and the President gives this strategic plan his full backing, failure cannot dismantle the flag of success.
Source: Sylvester Asare, Financial Analyst