A group of environmental civil society organisations in Ghana are asking for the immediate removal of the Chief Executive Officer of the Minerals Commission, for what they describe as his failure to “ensure responsible mining practices that safeguard social and environmental protections across the country.”
The group—including A Rocha Ghana, Kasa Initiative Ghana, Nature and Development Foundation, and Concerned Citizens of Atewa Landscape—urges the government to replace Martin Kwaku Ayisi with “a visionary leader who will usher in a new era of responsible mining.”
Mr Ayisi, a petroleum and mining lawyer, has been in office since 2021. The Minerals Commission is mandated to ensure the regulation and management of the utilization of the mineral resources of Ghana and the co-ordination and implantation of policies related to mining.
However, illegal mining persists. it thrives in Ghana’s forest reserves and water bodies under the Commission’s watch. Amid growing concerns, pressure is mounting on the new Mahama-led government to sack the Minerals Commission boss as forests disappear and illegal mining surges.
The Fourth Estate has in series of publications revealed a widespread mining activities in Ghana’s forest reserves and water bodies. The reports show a scramble for mining concessions by the powerful in the country.
The investigations revealed how leading members of the erstwhile New Patriotic Party (NPP) government and its former appointees were given the green light to mine in Ghana’s forest reserves.
The investigations revealed how the passage of LI 2426 led to 32 applications from 25 companies mining in forest reserves. The Minerals Commission approved ten of those applications. The report highlighted how the beneficiaries of this are leading members of the then NPP government including Ashanti Regional Chairman, Bernard Antwi-Bosiako; Wassa East District Chief Executive, Emmanuel Boakye; NPP Deputy Western Regional Women’s Organiser, Angelina Bint Ntaama; and the 2024 Juaben Constituency parliamentary candidate(now MP), Francis Owusu-Akyaw.
These mining activities, especially along water bodies, have forced the Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL) to shut down some treatment plants due to severe pollution. The high levels of pollution has led to soaring production costs and a drastic reduction in water supply to some parts of the country.
The group is also calling for the replacement of the Eastern-South Police Commander, DCOP George Boadi Bossman and ACP Reynolds Sam, the Divisional Police Commander.
We demand their immediate replacement with dedicated officers who will prioritize the enforcement of the minerals and mining regulations and halt the escalating impunity by illegal miners in the Akyem Abuakwa traditional area and within the Atewa Landscape,” the group demands.”
Part of the destroyed Atewa fOREST credit:GH Environment
According to the group, despite previous collaborations among Civil Society Organisations, communities and law enforcement agencies, illegal mining activities in some part of the Eastern Region continue unabated because the authorities are not enforcing the laws against illegal mining.
They bemoan how River Densu, River Birim and some other streams in Atewa landscape are heavily polluted due to the activities of illegal mining. Beyond The Fourth Estate’s report, there are other media reports that show how the activities of illegal mining in Ghana’s water bodies are causing environmental degradation.
The group wants a more proactive law enforcement and effective leadership. According to the group, the move is aimed at calling for an urgent need to address the pressing issues of illegal mining, environmental degradation and failure of regulatory enforcement in Ghana.
Among their demands, they are also asking for the Environmental Protection (Mining in Forest Reserves) Regulation, 2022 (LI 2462), to be revoked. The group explains that the LI has created a legal framework that permits mining in Ghana’s forest reserves which has resulted in a “an unprecedented state sponsored target and assault on forest reserve undermining decades of conservation and sustainable management of forests in Ghana.”
In the press statement, the group is further demanding a ban on tributer mining lease allocation and a cancellation of non-compliant mining lease.
“We are also calling for the online publication of all tributer mining permits with accompanying tributer tokens and codes so that communities in mining hotspots can do their own verification to improve mineral and mining governance in Ghana,” they state.
Among these demands, the environmental advocates expressed their disappointment over the arrest, manhandling and detention of a Forestry Commission staff in the Eastern Region who took steps to prevent illegal mining in the region.
The group believes that the arrest of the member of the Rapid Response Task Force of the Commission is an “abuse of power” and a “misuse of law enforcement” that “undermines the rule of law.”
These Civil Society Organisations also want the government to resource the Minerals Commission with the needed resources and tools to enable it perform its mandate of monitoring and regulating activities in forest reserves. “This includes enabling the Commission to seize, remove, manage, and process confiscated equipment efficiently. Without such investment, efforts to curb illegal mining in forest reserves will remain ineffective and a drain on public resources,” they add.
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