Minister for Lands and Natural Resources, Hon. Emmanuel Armah Kofi Buah, in an attempt to stem to the galamsey menace, has issued a stern caution to staff of the Minerals Commission over the indiscriminate issuance of licenses to Small scale miners.
He explained that his Ministry is resetting the Minerals Commission by effecting changes and adopting a bottom-up approach to regulate the issuance of licenses.
Minister for Lands and Natural Resources, Hon. Emmanuel Armah Kofi Buah, addressing staff and management
Hon. Armah Buah made these remarks when he paid an official visit to the Minerals Commission on Monday (April 7, 2025) for the first time since assuming office to meet with management and staff.
“We campaigned on resetting Ghana so we need to reset the Minerals Commission.
Anybody who stands our way must start packing because we will not take it lightly with you”, the Minister cautioned.
He also lamented about how small Scale miners violate the laws with impunity adding that after securing the prospecting license, they dig everywhere including close to water bodies.
The Ellembele MP who said his own cocoa farm in his Constituency was not spared by these small scale miners stressed that his advocacy for the bottom-up approach [where mining inspectors and geologists would go and take the co-ordinates of the site before advising the Commission to issue the license or otherwise] would help nip in the bud the wholesale issuance of licenses.
He stressed the need for officials of the Minerals Commission to act as police officers to ensure that the right thing is done to protect the environment.
“You have to change your way of doing things at the Minerals Commission. We need people with dedicated commitment and integrity who can stand for Ghana in this regard”, Hon. Armah Buah stressed.
The Minister added that the reforms being rolled out by the Ministry was aimed at sanitizing the mining space.
Hon. Armah Buah later commended the staff and management for their good work but was quick to add that these fundamental changes are needed to bring efficiency and ensure that the mining sector is well organized and mining done sustainably and responsibly.
“We have to collectively agree that yes you have done good things but it is time to make changes in that sector so I will need your support”, the Minister appealed.
The Minister was accompanied by his Deputy, Hon. Yusif Sulemana, Technical Director in charge Forestry, Mr. Joseph Osiakwa and Dr. Gideon Tetteh.
On his part, the CEO of Minerals Commission, Mr. Martin Ayisi thanked the Minister for the visit and assured him of his co-operation and support in the implementation of the reforms in the licensing regime.
CEO of Minerals Commission, Mr. Martin Ayisi addressing the gathering
He also disclosed that a quarter of Ghana’s economy is hinged on small scale mining maintaining that Ghana rakes in 4.65billion dollars from the small scale mining sector out of the total 11.5 billion dollars that Ghana makes on gold only.
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