Political will, strong institutions, and citizen involvement pivotal in tackling illegal mining challenge

In spite of the benefits we obtain from the environment, it continues to suffer from poor resource use resulting in pollution, degradation, and resource depletion, among others. Illegal mining is one of such poor resource use practices which the nation faces currently.

The environmental, social, and economic costs of illegal mining to today’s and tomorrow’s generations are immeasurable. The destruction of forest cover, degradation of forest and agricultural lands, pollution of water bodies, and poisoning of aquatic and terrestrial organisms, are a few of the effects of illegal mining activities.

Pollution of the environment, which also leads to bioaccumulation and biomagnification of poisons in organisms, is a cause for great concern. How did we get to this point as a nation? This is a national disaster that calls for a nationally coordinated action and response to tackle the problems we face currently.

Usually, those who are involved in illegal mining activities say they do so to make money. This happens at the expense of the environment, society and the economy. This is unacceptable, but the issues involved are more than just an income-motivated effort. The illegal mining activities are actually the outcome of certain structural failures in the environmental, social and governance framework of the nation.

There is a plethora of key stakeholders concerned with the illegal mining activities and their impacts on the environment.

At a high level, the Ministry of Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation, deploys government’s environmental policies through its Agencies such as the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The EPA has a mandate to enforce the government’s environmental policies and regulations.

The EPA works with many other responsible state institutions to manage the environment. Other key stakeholders include the Water Resources Commission, due to the pollution of surface and groundwater sources.

The Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources is also another key stakeholder at a high level and works through its Agencies such as The Forestry Commission and the Minerals Commission. At the local governance level, key stakeholders include the Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies, Traditional Authority, and individual community members.

The current environmental disaster is an indication of the failure of existing structures to prevent the situation we are observing today from occurring.

Without any doubt, a greater burden falls on the state institutions with the responsibility to control and prevent illegal mining activities, commonly called ‘galamsey’. The executive, the legislature, the judiciary, and the media, all have a role to play to tackle the illegal mining problem. The state needs to adopt a holistic approach to respond to the illegal mining problem.

Illegal mining activities are wreaking havoc on our natural resources.

Nonetheless, I am convinced that if the state steps up monitoring, control, and sanctions, coupled with the support of the local authorities, traditional authorities and communities in which the illegal activities occur, the problem can be addressed. I acknowledge the fact that since the onset of this environmental disaster, a lot of efforts have been put in by key stakeholders, except that the problem has still not been solved.

To achieve a sustainable solution to the illegal mining problem, Ghana needs to adopt a sustainable livelihood approach to the disaster. Where we do not only address the symptoms but identify the root causes and uproot them once and for all. We have to redirect the motivation of the network of people involved in illegal activities to sustainable livelihood activities that protect people, the environment and the economy rather than destroy it.

We should work as a nation towards enhancing the human, financial, physical, social, and natural assets of these people through institutional oversight and policy implementation. Central to this solution is a very vibrant multi-stakeholder voice or forum that brings all the key actors to the table for deliberations toward identifying sustainable solutions to the disaster.

The institutional, policy and regulatory environment of the mining sector must be strengthened to respond to emerging challenges that the nation faces.

The state must exercise the appropriate political will and provide the resources required, first to stop the illegal activities immediately, and secondly to sustain the gains made in terms of ending the illegal activities.

The state institutions that have been mandated to play one role or the other should collaboratively solve the current problems that the country faces. Central Government has a major role in ending illegal activities but to sustain the gains, the Local Governance structures, through the Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies, the traditional authorities, and the individual community members, have major parts to play.

The traditional authorities should not in any way be sidelined, they hold an important key for solving the problem and sustaining any gains. I cannot foresee any sustainable solution to this problem if the traditional authorities, custodians of many of the lands in illegal mining locations are left out. The traditional authorities will then bring their community members on board the arrangements to solve the problem. The traditional authorities are often closer to these illegal mining sites than the Local Government and Central Government.

Thus, they are well-positioned to help resolve the problem. The capacity of Traditional and community leadership should be enhanced with the requisite knowledge, abilities, skills, competencies, and logistics to address the problem. The media and Civil Society Organisations, have done quite well so far.

I urge them to strengthen their efforts to continue to find a lasting solution to the problem.

Academic and research institutions must investigate the extent and the impacts of the illegal mining activities, and stimulate debates on the emerging themes in the illegal mining situation. Perhaps this problem offers the nation an opportunity to review our entire mining regulations and practices to sustain best practices and review unsustainable practices.

The donor and investor community have a role to play in terms of interventions that can end this problem and stimulate responsible mining activities. The major legal mining firms should also let their voices be heard. The multi-stakeholder forum proposed to coordinate the activities of stakeholders should call on key groups such as the Council of State who have a unique opportunity to influence the political will of the government.

Livelihood empowerment and skills centres should be constructed near illegal mining towns to retrain illegal miners and redirect their energies to sustainable jobs. As a matter of urgency, the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research should be mandated to produce a report on the true extent of the impacts of illegal mining activities on environment, society, and the economy, and propose sustainable pathways for ecosystem remediation and restoration. The outcome of this enquiry will define a roadmap to allow restoration and remediation activities to commence.

The illegal mining activities have resulted in the degradation of both land and water resources. As a result, some water and land-related livelihoods and entrepreneurial activities have been affected. The cause of this problem is as a result of structural failures in state institutions that are mandated to protect, preserve and conserve our environmental resources. The role of the state, local government and traditional leadership to address the problem has also been emphasized.

If the state will demonstrate political will strengthen its institutions, and involve communities, it will be an important move forward to resolving the illegal mining problem. If all key stakeholders come to the table and harmonise their voices, it will help to tackle the root causes of the problem rather than the symptoms of the problem. Ultimately, no stakeholders should be left out in this journey, especially the local populations.