The government, has disbanded all Community Mining Schemes with immediate effect. These schemes were set up by the Akufo-Addo government with the then Deputy Minister for Lands and Natural Resources, George Mireku Duker, in charge. Many had labelled them a decorated Galamsey.
Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah, the Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, announced this during a news briefing in Accra on Wednesday, insisting that all the existing Community Mining Schemes were only in name, although their establishment was based on benefiting the community.
In that regard, the Minister said, the Community Mining Schemes, would be replaced with Mining Cooperatives after due diligence had been conducted with the involvement of the community members so that the people would be properly represented.
The decision to disband the Community Mining Schemes follows an interim report issued by an 18-member Working Committee set up by the government last month to review the current licensing regime and recommend a comprehensive strategy to tackle the illegal mining menace.
The Minister, said the Working Committee’s findings indicated that although the Mining Schemes were to benefit the local communities, “this is not the case.”
Meanwhile, the government revoked all small-scale mining licenses granted by the immediate past government after December 7, 2024.
The government had set up a Technical Small-Scale Mining Review Committee to review and validate all existing small-scale mining licenses.
Members of the Committee would have representatives from the Environmental Protection Agency, Minerals Commission, Forestry Commission, Water Resources Commission and Attorney-General’s Office.
The Committee would be chaired by the Deputy Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, Mr Yusif Sulemana, and to be deputised by a Director from the Ministry of Environment Science and Technology.
The Lands Minister, said the current licensing regime was fraught with challenges, hence the establishment of the Technical Review Committee to review all existing small-scale licenses.
On the terms of reference, Mr Armah-Kofi Buah said, the Committee was supposed to audit all licenses to ensure they were properly acquired, due process was followed and met all conditions of continuous validity with respect to environmental protection, safeguarding water bodies, forest reserves, and land preservation standards.
It is also to ensure that all permitting fees have been paid in full.
The committee has two months to carry out its assignment and report to the Ministry.
“All licensees are expected to cooperate and subject their documentation to this exercise within this period. All those who failed to go through this process will have their licenses revoked,” the Minister warned.
Mr Armah-Kofi Buah, announced that the ministries of Lands and Natural Resources, and Environment, Science and Technology were working together to establish a new classification for the Small-Scale Mining regime.
In November 2023, George Mireku Duker, then the Deputy Minister for Lands and Natural Resources, dismissed allegations that the government is setting up community mining schemes to cover up illegal mining activities, also known as galamsey.
This follows agitations by some residents in the Bosome Freho district over the Akufo-Addo government’s attempt to establish a community mining scheme in the district.
The scheme was described as one of the many interventions introduced by the government to fight the menace, which included the introduction of the National Alternative Employment and Livelihood Programme for community members who are dependent on illegal mining.
According to the then Deputy Minister, some individuals who protested against the scheme did so to discredit the Akufo-Addo government in its fight against galamsey. But speaking at the commissioning of a community mining scheme in the Ashanti Region, the then-deputy Minister clarified that the scheme has nothing to do with calamity.
“This is a well-thought-through program by the government. It has nothing to do with galamsey. The community mining scheme is not galamsey,” he said, urging mining communities to comply with laid-down procedures to help fight illegal mining in various communities.