Former Minister for Lands and Natural Resources, Samuel Abu Jinapor, has said the issuance of a number of small-scale mining licences between 2017 and 2025 was an approach to tackle illegal mining.

According to the statistics, a total of 2,151 licences have been issued to small scale miners between 2017 and 2025. Only 59 were issued between 2009 and 2016 and between 1988 and 2009, only 49 licences were issued.

Speaking on Joy FM’s Super Morning Show, Mr Jinapor expressed the view more licences being issued under the New Patriotic Party government than any other time in Ghana’s history was not necessarily a bad approach.

He argued that the mass issuance of the licences was to curb galamsey, "The grant of licences by itself is supposed to be a tool deployed to curb illegal small-scale mining by creating a formalised mining industry which is an alternative to illegal small-scale mining, so this in itself should not be wrong."

The Damango MP suggested that, "What is important when you grant the licences is to follow through to make sure that they mine in accordance with the dictates of those licences which have been granted."

His comments come at a time of renewed calls for a declaration of a state of emergency in forest areas where gold is largely mined irresponsibly leading to the destruction of lands and rivers, with studies increasingly showing the poisoning of crops and fishes.

Individuals, Civil Society Organisations and climate change activists have continued to raise concerns over the environmental and social impact of the illegal mining on Ghana.