President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has called for an open discussion on illegal small-scale gold mining (galamsey) as a country.

"There is one subject though which I believe we the people should have an open conversation and that is the phenomenon of galamsey......we have to talk about galamsey, we who are leaders owing to the country to take the subject out of the party political arena and have an honest conversation about this menace to our future", he said.

In his State of the Nation Address (SONA) to the 7th Parliament of the 4th Republic on Tuesday, January 5, 2021, President Akufo-Addo quizzed if galamsey should be allowed or not allowed in the country.

He said illegal mining has resulted in the pollution of water bodies and the destruction of lands in the country.

According to the President, there will always be mining in Ghana but the challenge with illegal mining is due to the use of modern technology which leads to the pollution of water bodies and destruction of the environment.

“As I have said often that the Almighty has blessed us with considerable deposits of precious minerals, there will always be mining in Ghana. Indeed there has always been mining in Ghana. The problem we have is the use of modern technology that leads to illegal mining causing serious dangers to our water bodies and the health of our environment”, he said.

He added that the activities of galamseyers make the Ghana Water Company unable to afford the cost of distilling polluted water bodies into safe drinking water.