Illegal Mining: Attorney General to Repeal L.I. 2462 With L.I. 2501
Government is moving to repeal the contentious regulation that has enabled mining in forest reserves, as part of efforts to tighten environmental protections and curb illegal mining.
Attorney General and Justice Minister Dominic Ayine, has said a new Legislative Instrument, L.I. 2501, will be laid before parliament on October 14 to revoke L.I. 2462, which civil society groups have criticised for weakening safeguards. The regulation will lapse 21 days after it is presented to the House.
Ayine told civil society organisations in Accra that the Minerals and Mining Act currently permits licences across the entire territory of Ghana, including forest reserves and territorial waters — a loophole the government plans to close through new legislation explicitly prohibiting mining in protected areas.
The bill under preparation will attach a schedule of forest reserves, ensuring that “no licence for mining activity, or lease for the conduct of mining, can be granted in respect of all the forest reserves listed in the statute,” Ayine said. Such provisions, he added, would make it “politically difficult” to dilute environmental protections without parliamentary approval.
The revocation of L.I. 2462 comes amid heightened public pressure on President John Mahama’s administration to tackle illegal mining, or galamsey, which has caused severe damage to water bodies and forest reserves.
