The Chinese Ambassador to Ghana, Tong Defa, has pushed back against popular beliefs that Chinese nationals are chiefly responsible for illegal small-scale mining, or galamsey, in the country.

Speaking to journalists on Friday, June 20, Ambassador Defa argued that the origins of galamsey were not Chinese and stressed that the involvement of his countrymen was typically at the invitation of Ghanaians.

According to him, Chinese nationals do not possess the legal rights to independently acquire mining licenses and are often brought into the country by local actors who enable their participation in such activities.

He said, “I do not know the reason why, when people say galamsey, they normally equate that to the Chinese. But actually, it is not Chinese. The issue does not originate from the Chinese. I mean, you can see those mining, the Chinese cannot get the license. It is the Ghanaian people who draw Chinese people over here, and the Chinese who are caught red-handed are just migrant workers who have come here and make a living.”

Ambassador Defa called for a comprehensive and forward-thinking national framework to address illegal mining and its damaging impact on the environment. He maintained that reactive policies are not enough to stem the tide.

“All the sectors, all the policies, we should work for a long-term policy on how to solve the problem to eliminate this pollution in waterbodies and in the forests. We should find a way to solve this problem in this country. To my understanding, you can never eliminate those small mines. These small mines have illegal activities involved in them,” he said.

The ambassador’s remarks add a new layer to the ongoing national conversation about galamsey, particularly at a time when the government continues its fight against environmental degradation linked to the activity.