The Ministry of Finance has been charged to allocate adequate funding in the 2022 budget towards the National Alternative Employment and Livelihood Programme (NAELP).

Speaking at the launch of the Programme in Tarkwa on Monday, President Akufo-Addo indicated that the Ministry is poised and committed to making the initiative successful.

"Upon my request, the Ministry of Finance is committed to make adequate budgetary allocation in the upcoming 2022 budget of government to fund this very important policy," he stated.

The programme forms part of measures being put in place to support small-scale miners and persons who have been affected by the ban on illegal mining in about five regions across the country.

According to the President, introducing the policy is a crucial step to ensuring that Ghana's mineral resources are protected from depletion.

He added that there is a need to diversify the source of livelihoods for people, especially those who are directly affected by the clamp down on illegal small-scale mining.

"Already, the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources, through the Minerals Commission and the Minerals Development Fund, is working with other partners to implement some alternative livelihood programmes to promote socio-economic development in mining communities."

"This programme seeks to mitigate the unavoidable hardships which our efforts to sanitise the small-scale mining sector has created. It will also focus on reversing the negative impacts of illegal mining on the environment through the National Land Reclamation and Reafforestation component of the programme," President Akufo-Addo announced.

As part of the programme, a Community Mining Scheme will be implemented to serve as the module for small-scale mining activities in the country.

"Let me stress once more that government will not condone any illegal activities in the mining sector," he reiterated.

Although Ghana has had a formalised process for engaging in artisanal small-scale mining, more than 85 per cent of small scale miners operate on illegal basis in the country.