PUNITIVE MINING LAWS

The Minerals Commission is pursuing an amendment of the Minerals and Mining Law to increase the punishment for illegal local and foreign mining individuals, as part of measures to deter selfish people from exploiting the mineral resources of the country, at the expense on human and national development. 

The proposed amendment of the law which is currently in Parliament, if approved, will increase the punishment against illegal miners from the present one thousand 500 Ghana Cedis to six thousand Ghana Cedis in fine or a minimum jail term of three years. Convicted foreign illegal miners will be fined 17 penalty Units which translates into huge monetary value.

 The Chief Executive Officer of the Minerals Commission, Dr. Tony Aubynn disclosed this to some newsmen during an inspection tour of mining sites in the Amansie West district of Ashanti by members of the Board of Directors of the Commission. The Minerals Commission’s CEO disclosed also that the proposed amendment to the Minerals and Mining Act aims also to empower the Magistrate Court to adjudicate illegal mining cases, instead of concentrating all the powers on the High Court, so as to help speed up the trial of such criminal cases. 

Additionally, all the machinery and equipment used in illegal mining activities will be confiscated to the state. Touching on the current state of illegal mining in the country, Dr. Aubynn praised the Presidential Task Force on Galamsey for the success achieved in their work to flush out illegal miners from the systems, saying that the strategy has significantly reduced the menace.

 He said the next phase of the national plan is that the Commission will intensify public awareness on the economic, social and environmental dangers, as well as human security issues involved in galamsey so as to discourage people from engaging in it. The Commission, led by its Chairman, Emmanuel Kofi Kaningen, toured the sites of a new mining company, AsankoGold, which is still setting up its processing plants to begin actual gold mining operations in three areas. 

These are the Abore, Obotan and Adansi pits. They also visited the sites of two licensed small scale mining companies owned by Ghanaians and employing many other local people. At the Asanko Gold Mines, the Board Chairman, Mr. Kaningen expressed satisfaction with the environmental management as well as community development policies. 

At the small scale mining sites, the members were all satisfied with the environmental protection plans, especially the covering of the mining pits and encouraged the miners to keep it up in the interest of the current and unborn generations.