Senior Presidential Advisor, Joyce Bawah Mogtari, says the Ghana Gold Board is taking major steps to ensure that gold acquired through illegal mining does not enter the formal market.
She made this known during an interview with Woezor TV, aired on Sunday, April 20, 2025.
Speaking about efforts to address the illegal mining crisis, popularly known as galamsey, Ms. Bawah Mogtari revealed that Ghana is now adopting a more structured approach, using international standards to trace the source of gold. She said this move would help sanitize the gold industry and prevent unregulated gold from being traded legally.
“I listen very carefully to an interview they (GoldBod) granted recently, eventually if gold is mined or acquired illegally they would have a way of preventing those golds from coming into the legal marketand also stop its illegal export,” she stated.
She added that stopping the illegal exportation of such gold could also discourage people from engaging in illegal mining activities in the first place.
According to her, one of the biggest problems facing the country today is environmental degradation caused by illegal mining.
“We have a challenge on our hands: pollution of our water bodies, degradation of our forests. The best part is the government itself has shown enormous commitment to working to end galamsey.” she said.
Ms. Bawah Mogtari expressed hope and excitement that many young people are now focusing their efforts on solutions to restore Ghana’s natural environment.
“I am delighted that so many young people are working on ideas, interventions that will help us regenerate our forests and clean our water bodies,” she said.
Touching on the role of the Ghana Gold Board (GoldBod), she explained that it is still in its early stages but has already made significant progress. She emphasized the need for national support, especially as the major stakeholders in the mining industry are welcoming the initiative.
“So far, they’ve taken some giant strides. I’m looking forward to how it works out. And since the biggest beneficiaries: those in the industry welcome it, I think all of us should give it a chance,” she stated.
Drawing on lessons from other resource-based industries, Ms. Bawah Mogtari referred to the global campaign against blood diamonds as an example of how certification systems can be used to clean up a sector.
“The world decided to punish those who were investing in blood diamonds by refusing to buy them. Diamonds from those communities were denied access to global markets. It was a good way to sanitize that industry,” she noted.
She noted that Ghana exports about $5 billion worth of gold, but questioned how much of that benefits the state.
“Ghana exports about $5 billion dollar and gold were exported, how much of it came to the state? That is the sort of thing we want to end, it is that sort of exportation we don’t want to see anymore,” she said.
Ms. Bawah Mogtari believes the Ghana Gold Board could help reset the entire mining sector. “We hope the GoldBod will reset the whole mining sector and reset how our gold is being sold,” she said.
