The Ga Mantse and President of the Greater Accra Regional House of Chiefs, King Tackie Teiko Tsuru II, has challenged stakeholders in Ghana’s mining sector to examine their conscience and consider the long-term consequences of exploiting the country’s mineral resources.

He questioned whether a day would come when those involved in mining could honestly say the gold extracted from Ghana’s soil had helped build the country rather than destroy its land.

King Tackie Teiko Tsuru II said Ghana’s lands were entrusted to the present generation by its ancestors, making it a collective responsibility to ensure they are not recklessly exploited.

He said the current generation would ultimately have to account for how the country’s natural resources and lands had been used, warning against pursuing short-term wealth at the expense of future generations.

"Mining will continue in Ghana as long as the earth beneath us holds what the world needs. The question this conference must answer is not whether mining continues but whose terms and whose benefit if it continues. Our ancestors entrusted this land to us to hold only a season, and one day we will hand it over. When that day comes, may we be able to say that we use the wealth beneath us without destroying the inheritance above.

That the gold taken from the Ghanaian soil helps to create prosperity in the Ghanaian economy," he said.

The Ga Mantse made the remarks at a National Mining Dialogue on the theme “Rethinking the Social License to Operate”, organised by Asempa FM in partnership with GoldBod, the Ghana Medical Trust Fund and other stakeholders.

He called for a more responsible approach to mining, stressing the need to strike a balance between economic benefits, environmental protection and the wellbeing of mining communities.