Mahama’s meeting with CSOs will help address some teething issues in galamsey fight — Wonder Madilo

A member of the governing National Democratic Congress’ (NDC) communication team, Wonder Madilo, has expressed optimism that the upcoming meeting between President John Mahama and Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) will strengthen efforts to curb illegal mining, popularly known as galamsey.

The meeting, scheduled for Friday, October 3, 2025, at the Jubilee House in Accra, is expected to provide a platform for government and civil society to discuss practical solutions to the menace.

A letter dated September 17 and signed by Dr. Calistus Mahama, Executive Secretary to the President, said the dialogue will harness collective expertise and perspectives to support the fight against illegal mining.

Speaking on Channel One TV’s Breakfast Daily on Wednesday, October 1, Mr. Madilo dismissed concerns that the engagement would be a mere talk shop.

Madilo stresses that the engagement will instead bring CSOs up to speed on concrete steps being taken by government and also seek their inputs.

“President himself wants to speak to the CSOs to tell them exactly what is happening. What are the measures being taken? For instance, almost all the foreign zones have been declared security zones. That will be instructive for the President to alert the citizen, at least he’s been voted, he needs to give account of what is happening and all that,” he said.

He further argued that the meeting is not the same as past engagements under the previous New Patriotic Party (NPP) administration, as it provides direct interaction with the presidency.

“So we should cut the President some slack and allow him to do what he’s going to do. We’ve elected him for four years, and he has a mandate to fix the economy, fix the country, and fix all the issues, including the environment. And so I’m very optimistic that this will go a long way to address some of the teething issues that we face,” he stated.