The Vice President of IMANI-Africa, Kofi Bentil says the state should not enforce the law on responsible mining.

According to him, there should be a complete prohibition to prevent illegal miners from destroying the forest reserves.

“There is nothing called responsible mining in a forest reserve, those words must never be put together,” he said on JoyNews' Newsfile on Saturday.

Mr Bentil rejected the concept of 'responsible mining' within forest reserves, asserting that such laws are crafted to facilitate the exploitation of these natural areas.

He underscored the distinction between a forest and a mine, emphasising that a forest reserve should retain its status as a forest, impervious to mining activities.

“They shouldn’t amend that law, they should delete it. It is there to facilitate things like mining in Kakum National Park and if we leave it there, one day we will wake up and Kakum has been mined,” he stressed.

The IMANI-Africa Vice President vehemently expressed that amending the law is insufficient; rather, it should be entirely expunged.

He argued that responsible mining is an impractical notion within the context of forest reserves, urging the government to take decisive action.

Mr Bentil went on to emphasise that the preservation of these reserves is paramount, warning that failure to delete the law could result in irreparable damage to the country's environmental heritage.

In his view, the pursuit of profit through mining should not come at the expense of the well-being of the populace and the integrity of the nation's ecological treasures.