Bawumia outlines small-scale mining reforms in talks with Ghana miners’ association

The New Patriotic Party (NPP) flagbearer held the engagement alongside members of the party’s Identifiable Groups Committee on the Extractive Sector.

The meeting was part of the NPP’s continuing consultations with key stakeholders on the future of Ghana’s extractive industries.

Discussions focused on the difficulties confronting small-scale miners and possible measures to promote responsible mining, create jobs, protect the environment and increase local value addition.

Posting on Facebook after the meeting, Dr Bawumia said: “I look forward to continued collaboration towards a sustainable and productive extractive sector.”

The engagement comes after proposals made by Dr Bawumia during the 2024 election campaign for the creation of mining schemes in communities where the Geological Survey Department had confirmed the presence of gold.

He said the schemes would help prevent uncontrolled mining, which had resulted in environmental destruction in parts of the country.

Under the proposal, artisanal miners would be formally regulated and required to use gold capture machines that did not rely on mercury or other poisonous substances.

Miners would also be licensed and guided towards methods that were responsible and environmentally sustainable.

Dr Bawumia, who was Vice-President at the time, said Ghana needed a comprehensive review of the entire small-scale mining system. That review, he added, should include stronger enforcement of regulations already in place.

He made the comments in response to concerns from Christian and Muslim leaders during a stakeholder engagement at Kpone in the Kpone-Katamanso Constituency in the Greater Accra Region.

Dr Bawumia said the proposals formed part of a wider plan contained in the NPP’s 2024 manifesto to address the galamsey menace.

As part of the plan, he said, the Geological Survey Department would receive support to identify and mark the locations of gold reserves throughout Ghana.

He explained that registration and monitoring would allow miners to operate legally in approved areas while receiving the facilities required to work without moving into environmentally sensitive locations.

“So once they know where the gold is and they are all registered, you come with your Ghana Card, we register you, we monitor you and we provide you with user facilities, there is no need to go elsewhere to destroy the environment.

“That is a better way for us to deal with this galamsey menace as we go forward,” Dr Bawumia added.

He said the current system encouraged people to move from one location to another in search of gold without proper controls.

At the moment, he said people just “go and dig, when they do not find, they go to the next place and start digging again”.

Dr Bawumia also compared the problem to corruption, arguing that authorities had often acted only after damage had already been done.

“Galamsey is like corruption in a way, because we have always focused on solutions after the destruction has happened,” the Vice-President added.