This chapter is the theoretical core of the book. We deploy state capture theory to advance the state-centric theories used to explain illegal artisanal and small-scale gold mining (ASGM) in Ghana and beyond. The central question we address—both theoretical and political in nature—is, why has galamsey, particularly illegal capitalist medium-scale mining (CMM galamsey), persisted and even flourished despite repeated efforts by the Ghanaian state to stop it? More specifically, why has CMM galamsey exacerbated between 2017 and 2024 despite the Ghanaian President’s vow to eradicate it, even at the cost of his presidency? We argue that state capture can address these questions fully and more persuasively. Yet to the best of our knowledge, state capture has rarely been deployed to explain the governance failures in the natural resources governance sector of Ghana. Acts or omissions bordering on state capture are often treated merely as a form of political or grand corruption. In this chapter, however, we posit that state capture depicts a deeper, systemic institutional paralysis than the abuse of office by unscrupulous public servants or politicians, or a group of them. In a captured state, even its most powerful and coercive organs—such as the military and the police—are ineffective when confronted by the influence and power of the elite classes, organizations, and individuals. What defines a captured state is not where corruption or criminal influence occurs—whether in the design of policy/regulation or the implementation of them. It is rather the extent to which the capacity of the state has been hollowed out that distinguishes state capture from other perversions of the state. The capacity of a captured state is deeply hallowed it is no longer a provider of public service and goods. Its institutions and their functions are often repurposed from serving public good to serving the power elites, both within and outside the state. To understand the depth of the paralysis of the Ghanaian state in the fight against CMM galamsey—to such an extent that even the presidency and the military  have failed—state capture theory offers a critical analytical lens. State capture theory is better equipped with the analytical tools to probe and expose the deeper hollowing of the state and the entrenched governance failures in the Ghanaian ASGM sector. The chapter draws on the state-of-the-art literature and the empirical case of South Africa to provide the analytical tools to analyze state capture in the failed militarized fight against CMM galamsey in Ghana.

State Capture and Illegal Artisanal and Small-Scale Gold Mining (ASGM)

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发表日期：

2025年

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Jasper Abembia Ayelazuno,
Maxwell Akansina Aziabah

摘要

This chapter is the theoretical core of the book. We deploy state capture theory to advance the state-centric theories used to explain illegal artisanal and small-scale gold mining (ASGM) in Ghana and beyond. The central question we address—both theoretical and political in nature—is, why has galamsey, particularly illegal capitalist medium-scale mining (CMM galamsey), persisted and even flourished despite repeated efforts by the Ghanaian state to stop it? More specifically, why has CMM galamsey exacerbated between 2017 and 2024 despite the Ghanaian President’s vow to eradicate it, even at the cost of his presidency? We argue that state capture can address these questions fully and more persuasively. Yet to the best of our knowledge, state capture has rarely been deployed to explain the governance failures in the natural resources governance sector of Ghana. Acts or omissions bordering on state capture are often treated merely as a form of political or grand corruption. In this chapter, however, we posit that state capture depicts a deeper, systemic institutional paralysis than the abuse of office by unscrupulous public servants or politicians, or a group of them. In a captured state, even its most powerful and coercive organs—such as the military and the police—are ineffective when confronted by the influence and power of the elite classes, organizations, and individuals. What defines a captured state is not where corruption or criminal influence occurs—whether in the design of policy/regulation or the implementation of them. It is rather the extent to which the capacity of the state has been hollowed out that distinguishes state capture from other perversions of the state. The capacity of a captured state is deeply hallowed it is no longer a provider of public service and goods. Its institutions and their functions are often repurposed from serving public good to serving the power elites, both within and outside the state. To understand the depth of the paralysis of the Ghanaian state in the fight against CMM galamsey—to such an extent that even the presidency and the military have failed—state capture theory offers a critical analytical lens. State capture theory is better equipped with the analytical tools to probe and expose the deeper hollowing of the state and the entrenched governance failures in the Ghanaian ASGM sector. The chapter draws on the state-of-the-art literature and the empirical case of South Africa to provide the analytical tools to analyze state capture in the failed militarized fight against CMM galamsey in Ghana.