Strengthening Governance Structures through Capacity Building to Address Illegal Gold Mining in Ghana

Strengthening Governance Structures through Capacity Building to Address Illegal Gold Mining in Ghana

Politics and International Studies

George Somper

2025

Illegal small-scale gold mining known as "galamsey" generates multiple serious problems for Ghana's environment and economy and its governance systems. The research investigates how well Ghanaian government institutions perform in solving the issue through academic sources and official documents and practical case studies. The research shows that military crackdowns together with centralized law enforcement have achieved minimal short-term success because corruption and elite control and social exclusion have continued to persist. The study reveals that illegal mining continues because enforcement agencies lack proper collaboration with other agencies and the community remains uninvolved and poverty and unemployment serve as major sustaining factors. The research from Peru demonstrates that police interventions based on enforcement alone face severe limitations. The research shows that state institutions need to develop their abilities through decentralized governance and community-based formalization systems to establish lasting solutions. Ghana will achieve better mining sector governance through the combination of improved accountability systems and local community empowerment and environmental protection and economic growth integration.