State of emergency should be last resort - Mahama on quelling Galamsey
Answering questions put to him at his recent held media encounter, the President mentioned that there are enough laws and mechanisms to clampdown illegal mining, state emergency is last resort.
Elohim Nyame 
President John Dramani Mahama has mentioned that his administration is not desperate to declare a state of emergency in the clampdown against illegal mining, known in our parlance as galamsey, insisting that existing laws gives sufficient authority to fight the illegality ruthlessly.
Answering questions asked him at his media encounter in Accra on Wednesday, September 10, the President admitted the heightening public uproar to take pragmatic measures against illegal mining activities but warned against resorting to a state of emergency prematurely.
“I’ve been reluctant to implement a state of emergency in the galamsey fight because we’ve not exhausted the powers we even have without a state of emergency,” President Mahama clarified.
“We have the opportunity to arrest anybody, to confiscate any such thing. The laws for forest protection and all that give us enough powers to be able to act.”
He underscored that a state of emergency should be considered only as a last resort and reaffirmed his administration’s commitment to enforcing existing regulations more effectively.
“Implementing a state of emergency might sound nice, but it should be the last resort. So for now, let’s exercise all the powers we have — and if it becomes necessary for a state of emergency, then we look at it,” he added.
