The Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Gold Board (GoldBod), Sammy Gyamfi, has announced that Legislative Instrument (L.I) 2462, which currently permits mining in forest reserves, will be revoked once Parliament reconvenes.
Speaking on Channel One TV’s The Point of View on Wednesday, April 23, Gyamfi reiterated President John Dramani Mahama’s strong stance against illegal mining, commonly known as galamsey.
He explained that the delay in revoking the L.I is due to ongoing legal deliberations over whether the law should be amended or repealed entirely. However, he assured that the necessary steps for its revocation have already been taken.
According to Gyamfi, Attorney General Dr. Dominic Ayine has confirmed that a bill to revoke the controversial legislation is ready and awaiting Parliament’s return from recess.
“L.I 2462 will be revoked by the NDC/Mahama government immediately Parliament resumes. There were legal issues as to whether or not it should be amended or revoked because there is a school of thought that revoking it could lead to a certain vacuum and that what had to be cured was the discretion or power given to the president to grant mining leases for people to mine in protected forest zones.
“Then there was another school of thought that said, look, let’s revoke the entire law, even if we get a vacuum, we can come up with a new L.I…but the L.I 2462 is poisonous. It should go in its entirety. Those who made that argument have won, we are a listening government,” he said.
Gyamfi’s comments reinforce the Mahama administration’s commitment to environmental protection and responsible mining, signaling a major policy shift in the fight against illegal mining.
—citinewsroom
