Koforidua: The Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources, through the Minerals Commission, is establishing District Offices to bring mining governance services closer to the people. 'Indeed, decentralizing the mining permitting processes will deter people from engaging in illegal mining activities,' Mr. Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah, Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, said.
According to Ghana News Agency, the Ministry has introduced a new Excavator Import Licensing Regime in collaboration with the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority (DVLA), Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA), and the Minerals Commission. By the end of September, 1,181 excavators had been registered, with 724 tracked. Mr. Buah's remarks were delivered on his behalf by Mr. Elikem Kotoko, Deputy Chief Executive Officer of the Forestry Commission, at a two-day high-level national dialogue organized by the Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) in Koforidua, Eastern Region. The dialogue aimed to mobilize citizen consensus on solutions to the galamsey crisis in Ghana.
Mr. Buah highlighted that galamsey had escalated beyond environmental devastation, posing significant health risks and threatening national survival. He referenced a recent press briefing by the Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL), which revealed that water sources were polluted, with turbidity levels reaching an alarming 12,000 Nephelometric Turbidity Units (NTU), far exceeding the maximum treatment threshold of 500 NTU.
The minister identified corruption among political officials and law enforcement agencies as primary drivers of the menace, undermining efforts to combat illegal mining. Other contributing factors include limited public awareness of the environmental and health risks, weak enforcement of mining regulations, unemployment, poverty, and the high global demand for gold.
In response to the crisis, the government has revoked 278 small-scale mining licenses found to be fraught with irregularities. Comprehensive legal and policy reforms are underway, including major amendments to the Minerals and Mining Act, 2006 (Act 703), and a review of the Minerals and Mining Policy (2014). These reforms aim to strengthen local content and introduce a medium-scale licensing regime. Mr. Buah emphasized that these efforts are essential to restoring Ghana's land and water bodies to their pristine state.
Most Rev. Emmanuel Kofi-Fianu, Board Chairman of the National Peace Council, noted, 'We know the problems, we know the solutions. Our challenge is taking the next step of implementing what we know as the solutions.' The Research Report for the High-Level Stakeholders Dialogue on Solutions to the Galamsey Crisis in Ghana: Mobilizing Citizens Consensus was launched, serving both as a research contribution and a call for policy renewal.
