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Claim: Multiple social media users shared a video in which John Mahama reiterated that stopping “galamsey” will affect gold exports and unemployment.
Verdict: True. DUBAWA’s findings reveal that Mahama made these comments at a campaign outing on Sept. 9, 2024 before the election.
Full Text
Illegal mining, locally known as galamsey, has become a national threat in Ghana. Environmental activists have warned of its dire consequences on our water bodies and forest reserves. Multiple protests have been staged to pressure the government to declare an emergency. Many believe a state of emergency in areas where illegal mining is thriving will at least halt its devastating effect.
Amidst national discussions on galamsey, multiple social media users shared a video of Mahama saying that stopping galamsey will affect gold exports and employment generation.
An X user, @_Fiifi_Sage, shared the video in a post with the caption, “Y’all listen to John Mahama and tell me if he has any interest in ending Galamsey.”
On Facebook, Enoch Kofi Nyarkoh shared the same video with the caption, “Why are people ‘moaning’ about this statement Mahama made:
‘If it’s from illegal sources or it is from legal sources, at least it is our land that is being destroyed, so let us get the benefit of it instead of foreign traders.’
Even before he assumed office officially, he told you that fighting galamsey was going to cost the country gold purchases and employment.”
At a time when distress calls are annoying for the government to implement emergency measures to curb the menace, some social media users have expressed shock at the comments made in the video. Some think the video has been manipulated, whilst others believe it to be true and have used that as basis to criticise the government’s commitment to fighting galamsey
Did Mahama make these comments? If true, when did he make such comments? These questions and many more prompted DUBAWA to probe the veracity of the video.
Verification
DUBAWA, using InVidWeVerify, conducted keyframe analysis of the video trending on social media with Mahama making the galamsey comments. Reverse image searches with the keyframes revealed that the video is from a Mahama campaign outing on Sep. 9, 2024.
Like the recent trending video with GhOneTV’s stamp, the video was uploaded to the media outlet’s YouTube page and on X. The video was captioned “We must sacrifice in the fight against galamsey- Mahama” and “we must be prepared to sacrifice in the fight against galamsey- John Dramani Mahama (NDC flagbearer)” on YouTube and X, respectively.
For avoidance of doubt, this is the translation of what Mahama said in Akan:
“It is a brutal fight, I won’t lie. But it needs bravery, because just like I reiterated, 1. Gold is the one holding Ghana now. And it is because of galamsay that we moved from 80 tonnes per year to 135 tonnes this year. The additional tonnes, a lot of which come from Galamsey. So we must be prepared to sacrifice in the fight against galamsey and expect production to come down. It means that exports will “reduce.”
And then also, the issue of employment. It is because of unemployment that the majority of the youth are involved in galamsey. The fight against galamsey will result in a lot of young people who currently are surviving with galamsey will also get unemployed. Those are two consequences I am putting on the table before we start the fight. We should all accept that the risks are worth the effort.”
He added the need to secure and restore the nation’s depleted forest reserves and water bodies.
Conclusion
The claim that Mahama said the fight against galamsey would affect gold exports and unemployment is true. The video circulating on social media is not manipulated but from a campaign outing in Sept. 2024.
