Gyasehene and Administrator of the Apinto Divisional Stool, Dr Nana Kwao Adarkwa Bediako, has called on the government to give indigenous landowners greater control over their lands to help tackle irresponsible mining in Ghana.

He argued that empowering traditional landowners to exercise full control over mining activities on their lands could provide a more sustainable approach to combating illegal and environmentally destructive mining.

According to Dr Bediako, relying solely on central government authority to regulate mining activities is problematic because political leadership changes over time, making it difficult to maintain consistent measures to address irresponsible mining.

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He said shifting greater responsibility to indigenous landowners would ensure that those with a direct and enduring interest in the land are empowered to protect it and hold mining operators accountable.

"I think that it is time for the owners of the lands to be given enough authority over their lands. We should be given enough power to deal with what is on our lands," he said on Tuesday, August 18, 2026.

Dr Bediako made the call at the National Mining Dialogue organised by Asempa 94.7 FM and its flagship programme, Ekosiisen, in partnership with Semmis DS and the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources at the Kempinski Hotel in Accra.