“Galamsey should not be a Political Campaign Message” – Keche Andrew

Andrew Kofi Cudjoe, leader of the popular Ghanaian music duo Keche, has cautioned politicians against exploiting the galamsey menace for campaign purposes due to its sensitive nature ¹. In an interview with Amansan Krakye, Keche Andrew emphasized that approximately 10% of Ghanaians are involved in galamsey, making it a delicate issue for politicians who fear losing votes.

“I think that with the issue of galamsey, our past presidents have been fighting it, but I don’t think it should be a campaign message to mock people because it’s a sensitive field,” Keche Andrew stated. He attributed the prevalence of galamsey to widespread unemployment and lack of education, leading many Ghanaians to engage in the practice despite its environmental consequences.

“The number of Ghanaians who are unemployed and uneducated who feel they can’t get office work or capital to start a trade are all involved in galamsey,” he disclosed. Keche Andrew further argued that those involved in galamsey are driven by economic necessity, disregarding the destruction of water bodies. This reality makes politicians hesitant to confront the issue, fearing voter backlash.

“These people don’t care, they just want to make money whether the water bodies are being destroyed or not, so those fighting these people are scared of the ramifications… I can boldly say that about 10% of our population are engaged in galamsey, so politicians know that they’ll lose votes if they fight these galamsey people,” he concluded.