Edward Tuttor urges President Mahama to sack National Security Council over galamsey crisis

Executive Convenor of the Dynamic Youth Movement of Ghana, Edward Seyram Tuttor, has issued a strong call to President John Dramani Mahama to immediately dismiss members of the National Security Council over what he described as their failure to effectively respond to the country’s galamsey crisis.

Mr. Tutor argued that the council had become disconnected from the realities facing Ghanaians.

“Fire each and every member that you have appointed onto the National Security Council because what we see, they don’t see it. What we feel, they don’t feel it. What we foresee coming, they are short-sighted and they are not serving us right,” he declared at a press conference held at the International Press Centre in Accra on Monday, October 6, 2025.

Mr. Tutor explained that the President’s reliance on the National Security Council for advice on whether to declare a state of emergency was constitutionally misplaced. According to him, the 1992 Constitution is clear on which body has the mandate to advise the President on such matters.

“In as much as we are calling on the President to fire his security advisors and to dissolve the National Security Council, we are clear in our minds that the appropriate body to advise the President when it comes to the declaration of a state of emergency is not the National Security Council but rather the Council of State,” he stated.

Citing Article 31 of the 1992 Constitution, he read aloud to support his point:
“Article 31 is very clear and I’m going to read Article 31 — Emergency Powers of the President. The President may, acting in accordance with the advice of the Council of State, by proclamation published in the Gazette, declare that a state of emergency exists in Ghana or in any part of Ghana for the purposes of the provisions of this Constitution.”

Mr. Tutor stressed that the Constitution makes no mention of the National Security Council in this regard. “The Constitution never said that the advice that must be given to the President to declare a state of emergency is the National Security Council. Therefore, if we are to go by the Constitution, the President got it wrong,” he asserted.

He further clarified the proper constitutional procedure, noting that Parliament also plays a critical role. “If the Council of State should advise the President that a state of emergency needs to be declared and that advice is gazetted or published, then the President must now go to Parliament to seek from the people’s representative,” he explained.