The Minister for Lands and Natural Resources, Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah, has outlined stringent measures to combat illegal mining (galamsey) in the country when he is approved as Minister for the sector.

Speaking during his vetting on Monday, 27th January, he shared his vision for sustainable and robust measures to tackle the challenges within the mining industry.

He identified three key measures to address the environmental challenges that have gained significant public attention in recent times.

Read also: We’ll stand with the people of Ghana to fight illegal mining – Armah Buah

“Mr Chairman, I have a three-pronged approach to dealing with this menace. I describe it as community engagement, enforcement, prevention,” he said.

He continued, “Community engagement because we must first start by acknowledging that the people who can really deal with this problem are the people at the local level in the mining areas where this happens. So, to that extent, we must engage our chiefs, our community leaders, we must sensitise them, we must provide them with the necessary training, and we must empower them.”

He stressed the need to reach out to local leaders in various mining communities, revealing that three million Ghanaians are involved in illegal mining activities.

“We must also reach out to them. According to the Minerals Commission, three million Ghanaians are involved in illegal mining activities, both directly and indirectly, across twelve regions of the country,” he noted.

He further emphasised the need to tackle illegal mining activities systematically.

Mr Buah reiterated the government’s commitment to ensuring that mining activities are conducted legally in all approved communities.

He also highlighted some of the reasons why people engage in illegal mining.

“One of the reasons why so many people are engaged in illegal mining is that the processes for getting a license are sometimes so cumbersome and so long unless you have political connections,” he said.

He added, “But decentralising these services will allow communities to know that if they want to engage in legal mining, this is the channel.”