The Minister-designate for Lands and Natural Resources, Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah, has vowed to prioritize the protection of Ghana’s forest reserves by halting new mining activities if approved by the Appointments Committee.
Speaking passionately during his vetting before Parliament’s Appointment Committee , Mr. Buah reiterated his commitment to amending Legislative Instrument (LI) 2462, which currently allows mining in forest reserves.
“Honorable Chairman, it is correct. We have said that there will be no new mining activities in forest reserves, and the intention is to make sure that LI2462 will be amended to make sure that this provision that allows mining in forest reserves is not in place. We will make sure that happens,” he stated.
“If you give me the chance as the Minister, that will be the first order of business, to make sure that there will be no new mining activities in forest reserves.”
Expressing concern over the state of the nation’s environment, Mr. Buah described Ghana as “bleeding,” highlighting the extensive damage caused to forests and other natural resources.
He added, “Our forest, that is really at the heart and soul of our survival, has been completely devastated, damaged, and don’t take my words for it. This is what the NDC intends to do.”
To address the environmental challenges, Mr. Buah outlined several initiatives, including the Blue Water Initiative, which aims to rehabilitate areas destroyed by illegal mining and transform them into hubs of ecological and economic recovery. “That’s what we are going to do,” he said.
He also promised to take decisive action against illegal mining, stressing that no one, regardless of their political affiliation or status, would be exempt from the law.
“We are going to stand together with the people of Ghana to fight illegal mining. It doesn’t matter your status. It doesn’t matter your political correlation. If you want to do mining, we have legal processes for getting licenses and doing mining,” he stated firmly.
Drawing on his background as someone from a mining district, Mr. Buah proposed a change in approach to community engagement and governance of the mining sector.
He proposed a genuine and transparent approach by first making sure that the people in the areas where mining occurs understand that the destiny of their area is in their hands. The river bodies, the forests—they are the leaders of these areas,” he explained.
Mr. Buah further elaborated on plans to decentralize the licensing regime, noting that delays in obtaining mining licenses often drive individuals toward illegal activities.
“Nobody is going to wait for four years to get a license. They will do illegal mining. But guess what? We are going to make the process such that it is easy for them to go through the process,” he explained.
He emphasized the importance of proper regulation, pointing out issues such as individuals holding multiple small-scale mining licenses and operating in a manner equivalent to large-scale mining without proper classification.
“We need to look at this recategorization. We need to do a holistic review of this licensing regime to address the issue,” he said.
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Source: Comfort Sweety Hayford/ATLFMNEWS
