Private legal practitioner Martin Kpebu has called on Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) to take their engagement with President John Dramani Mahama on illegal mining, popularly known as galamsey, more seriously.

Speaking on Joy FM’s Super Morning Show on Friday, October 3, Kpebu cautioned against dismissing the President’s meeting with CSOs as a “talk shop.”

Instead, he described it as a critical opportunity to demand stronger measures in tackling galamsey.

“We will need even a number of multitudes beyond today’s meeting. In governance, participatory governance or democracy, this meeting to me is a masterstroke. Let the CSOs have an encounter with the President, then they can push in more,”

Kpebu explained.He expressed surprise at those downplaying the significance of the dialogue, noting that while government efforts are ongoing, poor communication has created a gap between action and public perception.

“My sense of the matter is that government is doing something reasonable, but because it is not being communicated fully, we are relying on old data to increase the advocacy,” he said.

Kpebu also urged caution in advocacy efforts, warning against the use of unverified claims on the effects of galamsey.

Referring to research that linked illegal mining to spontaneous abortions, he said such conclusions required stronger scientific backing.

“Increasing the advocacy is good, but a part of the advocacy doesn’t sound scientific to me. About the research on the spontaneous abortions caused by galamsey, that’s not scientific, with all due respect. You will have to give us details. Correlation is not necessarily causation,” he noted.

Meanwhile, President Mahama is scheduled to meet CSOs on Friday, October 3, at 12:00 noon, to deliberate on sustainable solutions to the galamsey menace.