President John Dramani Mahama has reaffirmed his commitment to ending mining activities in Ghana’s forest reserves, announcing plans to amend the Minerals and Mining Act, 2003 (Act 703) to permanently outlaw such operations.
Speaking on the progress of his administration’s first 120 days, President Mahama outlined a comprehensive strategy aimed at sanitising the mining sector, including legal reforms, enforcement action, and land reclamation efforts.
“The first 120 days, we’ve taken decisive action through a five-point strategy to overhaul and sanitise the mining sector. This includes regulatory reforms and strengthening law enforcement, including joint task forces, arrest and seizures of mining equipment, stakeholder collaboration, and reclamation of degraded lands.
“Seven out of nine reserves have been reclaimed, illegal miners have been flushed out of these forest reserves,” Mahama said.
He said that as part of this initiative, the legislative instrument—L.I. 2462—was presented to Parliament on March 20, 2025, to amend the Environmental Protection (Mining in Forest Reserves) Regulations. The amendment removes the president’s discretionary power to permit mining in forest reserves.
“Concerning the ban on mining in forest reserves, on March 20, 2025, a legislative instrument L.I. 2462 was presented to Parliament to amend the Environmental Protection (Mining in Forest Reserves) Regulation. This amendment removes the president’s power to approve mining in forest reserves,” he explained.
Mahama further pledged to go beyond regulatory amendments by directly targeting the Minerals and Mining Act itself.
“I also plan to amend the Minerals and Mining Act, 2003 (Act 703) to completely prohibit mining in forest reserves. This would effectively, meticulously, legally, and entirely ban mining in our forest reserves,” he stated.
The move is part of a broader effort to protect Ghana’s natural environment and curb the destructive impact of illegal mining, which has caused severe deforestation and pollution in several parts of the country.
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