The Chief Executive Officer of the Minerals Commission, Martin Kwaku Ayisi, has identified the lack of designated mining areas as a key driver behind illegal mining, commonly known as galamsey.

Speaking during the Assurance Committee of Parliament’s public session on Monday, October 7, 2024, Ayisi cautioned that without addressing this issue, efforts to combat galamsey would remain ineffective.

Ayisi lamented the government’s lack of funding for exploration efforts, which has hindered the identification of legal areas for small-scale miners.

“Since 1989, we haven’t conducted any exploration,” he stated, blaming the failure on inadequate government support for the Geological Survey Authority.

Tracing the history of small-scale mining in Ghana, Ayisi explained that it was largely restricted from the colonial era through the administration of Kwame Nkrumah and the establishment of the Precious Minerals Marketing Corporation (PMC).

He highlighted the impact of structural adjustment policies in the 1980s, which led to the privatization of state-owned mines in Tarkwa, Prestea, and Dunkwa.

“That’s why today, people say we no longer own our mines,” he remarked.

Ayisi noted that the World Bank and IMF’s recommendations in 1989 introduced the Small-Scale Gold Mining Law to formalize artisanal mining. However, he questioned the validity of these measures, pointing to dubious comparisons at the time, saying, “I don’t know what diamond or gold is produced in Togo,” he added.

Chairman of Government Assurance Committee with different water from galamsey induced water

The Minerals Commission CEO outlined four strategies the government is pursuing to secure land for small-scale miners, including redistributing areas surrendered by large-scale companies, cancelling unused licences, and returning exploration zones.

However, Ayisi acknowledged that these efforts would take time.

He welcomed recent commitments from Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia, who pledged $10 million for geological surveys, as well as similar promises from the opposition NDC. Ayisi stressed the need to distinguish between legal small-scale mining and galamsey, emphasizing that the focus should be on formalizing small-scale operations.

Warning of the growing scale of the sector, Ayisi pointed out that the number of small-scale miners has skyrocketed from 100,000 in five regions in the 1990s to over 3 million miners spread across 13 regions today. He stressed that the state’s failure to provide legal mining areas has only exacerbated the situation, concluding,

“It’s the biggest headache we have as a nation right now.”

Ayisi called for sustained political and financial backing to address the issue, stating that until more resources are allocated to exploration, the galamsey problem will persist.

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