Women’s Movement Against Galamsey Vows to Drag President Mahama to International Court of Justice

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Women’s Movement Against Galamsey Vows to Drag President Mahama to International Court of Justice

The Women’s Movement Against Galamsey has threatened to drag President John Dramani Mahama before the International Court of Justice (ICJ) over what it describes as his alleged complicity and direct benefit from illegal mining activities in Ghana.

Speaking in an interview on Sunyani-based Nimdie FM on Tuesday, Madam Janet Asana Nabla, the 2024 Presidential Candidate of the People’s National Party (PNP), accused the President of being the “chief galamseyer” in the country.

According to her, water bodies have deteriorated more rapidly under Mr. Mahama’s watch than under the previous Akufo-Addo administration. “The galamsey fight is a war. Mahama is the galamsey kingpin in Ghana. He cannot declare a state of emergency because he is the major beneficiary. He is the chief galamseyer. Mahama introduced galamsey in Ghana, and it was during his time that mining in water bodies began,” Nabla alleged.

Her comments come at a time when President Mahama himself has been under intense pressure to declare a state of emergency to halt illegal mining, which continues to devastate forests, poison rivers and threaten food and water security across the country.

At his “Meet the Press” encounter on September 10, 2025, the President dismissed calls for an immediate state of emergency, arguing that Ghana’s existing laws already provide sufficient authority to tackle illegal mining. He stressed that such a drastic measure should only be considered as a last resort if ongoing interventions fail.

The President’s position has, however, drawn sharp criticisms. The Ghana Catholic Bishops’ Conference, for instance, has urged him to urgently declare a state of emergency in galamsey-ravaged zones, warning that the menace is not only an environmental disaster but also a grave national security threat.

Meanwhile, a spokesperson for the governing NDC, Hamza Suhuyini, has indicated that a state of emergency could still be declared within the next one to two years if current measures do not yield results.

For Madam Nabla, however, President Mahama’s hesitation only reinforces her belief that he remains a key beneficiary of the illegal trade. “He can’t take such a decision against galamsey because he will be fighting himself,” she charged.