The President’s Spokesperson, Felix Kwakye Ofosu, has assured stakeholders who are calling for the repeal of LI 2462 that government will certainly yield to their request.
He noted though, that their demand will be granted after due process has been adhered to.
Mr Kwakye Ofosu gave the assurance while contributing to discussions on TV3’s The KeyPoints on May 10. The topic under discussion was President Mahama’s 120-day Social Contract with Ghanaians.
“Let me stress it here that the position of this Government is that this LI will go. The question remains how we are going to do it such that all factors are considered and that the Government of Ghana is insulated from any future action that will be detrimental to us,” he cautioned.
L.I. 2462, the Environmental Protection (Mining in Forest Reserves) Regulations, 2022, allows for mining activities within forest reserves, provided that specific conditions and safety measures are met. The law outlines procedures for mining operations, including environmental impact assessments and mitigation plans.
While it aims to regulate mining in forest reserves, it has faced controversy due to concerns about environmental damage and the potential for undermining the protection of Ghana’s forests.
Consequently, many stakeholders such as A Rocha Ghana and the Media Coalition Against Illegal Mining have held the government to its promise to repeal the regulation. That’s because upon assumption of office, the government, instead of repealing the LI has taken steps to amend the law.
This caused the Convenor of the Media Coalition Against Illegal Mining, Dr Ken Ashigbey, who was also on the KeyPoints programme, to declare that he will score President Mahama 30% in relation to his pledge to fight galamsey.
However, Mr Ofosu urged patience.
“Mind you, some of the miners are reputable entities who were given mining leases by the previous government to do mining. The question is, what happens if you repeal this law which should guide what they are doing? It then means that nothing will guide what they are doing. You can also not go and remove them from the forest without going through a certain process,” he pointed out.
According to him, the Attorney-General, Dr Dominic Ayine, has advised the amendment approach as an interim measure.
“The Attorney-General, who is government’s chief legal adviser says that the way to go about it is that first of all, at this moment, make it impossible for anybody on the basis of this LI to get a lease because the President has the power to grant it. So, you remove the President’s ability to grant leases, so that you don’t have anybody going into the forest until what we have to do is done.
In respect of that, on 20th March, the Environment Minister, who has jurisdiction over this LI, went to Parliament and laid the LI and when we return, the LI will mature. So, the President can no longer grant a lease for you to enter the forest,” he explained.
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