The government has been asked to prohibit all artisanal and small-scale mining operations for a year by the Movement for Change, one of Ghana’s political groups.
According to a statement signed by Mr. Solomon Owusu, its Director of Communication and Spokesperson, “By an Executive Instrument, ban all small-scale and artisanal mining activities, whether legal or illegal, with immediate effect, for a substantive period of one year.”
The Movement for Change also demanded that Parliament halt the use of Legislative Instrument (LI) 2462 to revoke permits permitting mining in Ghanaian forest reserves under a Certificate of Urgency.
The call from the party follows the horrific event that took the lives of eight (8) brave soldiers from our country on Wednesday, August 13, 2025.
According to the statement, there is a greater urgency than ever to completely eradicate Galamsey’s existential menace. In light of this, the Movement for Change suggests a Ten-Point Action Plan to halt Galamsey.
The statement demanded that all community and small-scale mining permits granted by the Minerals Commission in the previous 15 years be revoked.
“The revocation will be followed by a comprehensive and complete audit of all small-scale and community mining licenses issued within the said period. A task force made up of representatives of the Goldbod, Environmental Protection Agency, Water Resources Commission and Minerals Commission, with appropriate technical support, shall oversee the audit.”
With the approval of traditional authorities in the pertinent areas, the statement urged the government to grant new mining licenses following the audit process.
On all present small-scale and community mining land locations, it further urged the government to “demobilize all machinery and equipment, including earth-moving equipment, and any other form of machinery currently in use.”
The 48 Engineer’s Regiment of the Ghanaian Armed Forces will inventory, store, and maintain the equipment.
Within a year following the small-scale mining prohibition, the government was entrusted with creating and funding a comprehensive program for the regeneration and restoration of all degraded land locations, according to the statement.
“Young men and women currently engaged in small-scale mining activities will be deployed under the said programme. The programme would be led and supervised by the Forestry Commission with technical oversight by the Forestry Research Institute of CSIR.”
The statement also called on the government to create a program that would be overseen by the Environmental Protection Agency and the Water Resources Commission, with technical assistance from the CSIR Water Research Institute, to fully restore all river bodies within a year of the ban’s implementation.
Even once the ban on small-scale mining is lifted, the government should introduce new laws and regulations in Parliament that would completely prohibit mining in river bodies and forest reserves, the statement said.
“The sanctions regime associated with this new legislation will include life imprisonment for violation of the provisions of the said legislation,” the statement added.
The government should launch a new Youth in Responsible Mining Initiative, the statement reiterated, which would help groups of young people who were previously involved in Galamsey start and own mining companies as private, legal, commercial entities (not cooperatives).
In order to serve as the watchdogs for responsible mining, the Statement ultimately urged the government to create a Citizens Mining Protection Rights Group in every mining village.
Movement for Change Media Release Below:
Source: newsthemegh.com