Private legal practitioner, Martin Kpebu, has dismissed calls for the declaration of a state of emergency to tackle illegal mining (galamsey), arguing that existing laws already provide the state with adequate tools to address the problem.
Speaking on TV3’s The Key Points on Saturday, Mr. Kpebu warned that such a declaration would unnecessarily restrict fundamental freedoms.
“Declaring a state of emergency is not the solution. It means curtailing freedoms of movement, assembly, and speech—things that the police can already handle under existing laws,” he said.
He stressed that the Ghana Police Service is constitutionally mandated to maintain law and order and should therefore take the lead in fighting galamsey, not the military.
According to him, the armed forces exist to defend the country from external aggression, and their involvement in mining areas risks undermining their proper role. He suggested that military engineers could instead be deployed for development projects such as road construction.
Mr. Kpebu commended the government for recruiting nearly 1,000 security personnel and seizing hundreds of excavators, but insisted that more must be done to sustain the fight.
He argued that maintaining a permanent security presence in mining zones would be more effective than resorting to emergency powers. To improve accountability, he further recommended embedding journalists with security task forces, noting that “sunshine is the best disinfectant.”
Reflecting on past administrations, he observed that former President Akufo-Addo came under fire for refusing to declare a state of emergency on galamsey, partly due to what he described as reckless comments that weakened his credibility.
However, Mr. Kpebu urged against mounting similar pressure on the current government, stressing that lawful measures remain unexhausted.
“We have not exhausted the remedies under the law. Until that is done, a state of emergency should not even be considered,” he maintained.
