The Deputy Minister for Lands and Natural Resources, Hon. Alhaji Yusif Sulemana, has justified in detailed account, the ministry’s decision to revoke mining licenses that were issued in violation of established regulations and community consultations.
During his appearance before the Public Accounts Committee (PAC), the Deputy Minister shed light on the alarming practices that had crept into the mining license approval process.
He revealed instances where the process in acquiring those revoked licenses were defined by several irregularities.
“If you were to go through the process of getting a small-scale license , you go into a software called MCAST, where you put in your application. Where you are going to do this mining, the community will have to be involved. And so the officer there will have to write a report.”
Hon. Alhaji Yusif Sulemana
Consultation and Environmental Concerns
The Deputy Minister highlighted the importance of community involvement in the licensing process.
He explained that in cases where “a concession is so close to a community” and “if you were to mine, you end up mining within the houses of the people” hence, the need to involve the local communities i.e the host communities.
Hon. Sulemana lamented that even in instances where the officers had professionally recommended against granting the licenses, they were approved and issued regardless.
In response to these irregularities, the Lands and Natural Resources Ministry took the decisive action thereby revoking a significant number of those mining licenses.
As the Deputy Minister stated, “we have revoked them. And we challenged them to take us to court.“
This bold move demonstrates the government’s commitment to upholding the rule of law and to ensure that mining activities are conducted in a responsible and community-centric manner.
Conflicts of Interest and Undue Influence
The Deputy Minister also shed light on instances where the chiefs were misled by those revoked licenses’ holders.
“There were instances where the chiefs were sitting in their comfort, I mean palaces, and then somebody will walk to them on their face and just fly a certificate that I’ve received a letter from Minerals Commission to come and mine. When the owners of the land were not consulted. That’s not what the law says.”
Hon. Alhaji Yusif Sulemana
He emphasised that this practice, where mining licenses were issued without proper consultation with the rightful landowners, was a clear violation of the law and therefore warranted the revocation of such licenses.
The Deputy Minister’s statement characterized the ministry’s determination to “sanitise the system and let people who really want to mine take those concessions and mine.”
He also acknowledged that there are “people who have come for concessions and now went around looking for people to sell it to,” a practice that the ministry aims to curb.
According to him, the ministry is committed to creating opportunities for genuine, law-abiding miners to obtain licenses and contribute to the responsible development of Ghana’s mining sector.
Concerns and Restoring Transparency
The Deputy Minister’s appearance before the PAC also offered the ministry a platform to preach to the general public about the government’s efforts to address the concerns raised by various stakeholders, including chiefs and local communities.
By revoking licenses that were issued in violation of established procedures, the ministry is taking tangible steps to restore trust and transparency in the mining licensing process.
The Deputy Minister emphasised the collaborative nature of the ministry’s approach, involving technical experts from the Minerals Commission, Environmental Protection Agency, Water Resources Commission, and Forestry Commission.
This multi-stakeholder engagement underscores the government’s recognition that tackling the challenges in the mining sector requires a unified and coordinated effort.
The Deputy Minister’s comprehensive account of the ministry’s actions to revoke mining licenses sows the government’s determination to address the deep-rooted issues that have plagued Ghana’s mining sector for decades.
By prioritizing community consultations, environmental concerns, and the rule of law, the Lands and Natural Resources Ministry is paving the way for a more responsible and sustainable mining industry that benefits both the local people and the nation as a whole.
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