Tension mounts in Gbane over execution of Bolgatanga High Court order

The enforcement of a Bolgatanga High Court order has generated tension and heightened insecurity in the mining community of Gbane in the Talensi District of the Upper East Region.

In what stakeholders and security watchers have described as a volatile situation, the continued presence and mining operations of Nanlamtaaba Enterprise, a small-scale mining company in Gbane operating under a court order, have the potential to fuel a brewing conflict between Gbane and Namoaligo.

On November 21, 2025, the Bolgatanga High Court, presided over by His Lordship Justice Ernest Pascal Gemadzie, ordered the Upper East Regional Police Command to provide protection and assistance to a small-scale miner, Zongdaan Boyak Kolog, popularly known as Poloo, who operates under the name and style of Nanlamtaaba Enterprise, to undertake mining operations in the Gbane area.

The order was issued despite claims that the miner does not hold a valid mining licence or operating permits from the Minerals Commission and the Environmental Protection Authority.

The order for police protection was granted following an application by lawyers for the small-scale miner, who complained of trespass on his concession by youth of the Gbane community and a large-scale mining company, Earl International Group Ghana Gold Limited.

In February 2023, Zongdaan Boyak Kolog commenced legal action against the Chinese large-scale mining company, the Minerals Commission, the Chief of Gbane and others over ownership of the 25-acre concession.

Although the large-scale Chinese mining company obtained its mining lease in April 2019, covering an area of 16.02 square kilometres for 14 years, a mining licence covering 25 acres, reportedly within the already leased-out area, was issued to the small-scale miner in May 2020 for five years.

Following the Bolgatanga High Court's grant of the application for police protection, lawyers for Earl International Group Ghana Gold Limited filed an application with the court to vacate or set aside the order, arguing that it was granted on the basis of an expired mining licence held by Nanlamtaaba Enterprise.

Records and evidence available to the court show that the plaintiff's mining licence expired on May 14, 2025, and has not been renewed by the Minerals Commission.

Lawyers for the large-scale Chinese mining company further argued that allowing Nanlamtaaba Enterprise to carry out mining operations within the company's concession without a valid or subsisting mining licence and the required permits under the Minerals and Mining Act, 2006 (Act 703), as well as the requisite permit from the Environmental Protection Authority, amounted to an order protecting an illegal miner to operate.

Although lawyers for the small-scale miner disclosed that an application for renewal had been submitted to the Minerals Commission, which is a defendant in the matter, counsel for the Commission argued that it had no record of an application for renewal from Nanlamtaaba Enterprise.

They stressed that the process employed by the applicant to renew his mining licence over the disputed area was incorrect and did not meet the stipulated guidelines under L.I. 2176. The guidelines require applicants to submit renewal applications to the district office of the Commission rather than by courier service to the Chief Executive Officer of the Minerals Commission.

They further noted that Nanlamtaaba Enterprise had no mining permit and argued that mining may be undertaken in a licensed area only after a mining permit has been obtained from the Chief Inspector of Mines, and that mining activities shall cease upon the withdrawal or suspension of the permit.

However, Justice Pascal Ernest Gemadzie, in his ruling on the application to set aside the order for police protection, said that although the mining licence of Nanlamtaaba Enterprise had expired, the company still owned the mining licence and concession until the Minister for Lands and Natural Resources terminated the same in accordance with Section 87 of Act 703.

He therefore dismissed the application to set aside the order.

APPLICATION FOR STAY OF ORDER FOR POLICE PROTECTION

Dissatisfied with the ruling of the Bolgatanga High Court, Earl International Group Ghana Gold Limited filed an application for a stay of execution pending an appeal at the Court of Appeal.

The application was again dismissed by the court.

Justice Ernest Pascal Gemadzie, in his ruling on the stay of execution, noted that the decision to grant police protection to the plaintiff to access the concession, with or without a mining licence, was grounded in law and that there were no exceptional circumstances to warrant a stay of the order.

At the time of filing this report, sources had confirmed that a fresh application for a stay of execution had been filed at the Court of Appeal.

THE EXECUTION OF THE ORDER AND HEIGHTENED TENSION

Weeks after the application for a stay of the order for police protection was dismissed, the Upper East Regional Police Command made a massive entry into the busy mining community with a large number of heavily armed police officers in a long fleet of armoured vehicles, which could be likened to a presidential security convoy.

In what appeared to be a show of force during the execution of the court order, Zongdaan Boyak Kolog, popularly known as Poloo, was spotted by frightened residents and onlookers in the area inspecting the concession and demonstrating his readiness to resume mining operations.

While the development may appear to be a straightforward execution of a court order, some youth in the Gbane area have expressed strong disapproval of the return of Nanlamtaaba Enterprise.

They accuse the proprietor of disrespecting their chief and elders by taking them to court and further preventing them from accessing their own lands by securing a court injunction.

They further accused Poloo of attempting to fuel conflict in the area by recruiting and deploying youth from a rival community to work on the concession.

“You have taken our chief to court and even said he should not come here on the land because you have an injunction against him. You again go and bring people from Namoaligo to work here when you know what is happening between them and us. What are you trying to tell us? We are peace-loving boys of this community, but we will not accept this. We respect our fathers and their advice; that is why we are still keeping quiet,” a resident who identified himself as Yambezina said.

UNDERGROUND CLASHES

The execution of the court order has sparked renewed security and safety concerns, following reports of clashes in the deep underground mining area of Earl International Group Ghana Gold Limited, where the small-scale miners are reportedly invading underground mining drives to claim ownership.

The Public Relations Officer of Earl Group, Albert Azongo, said the company was facing significant challenges following the court orders.

“We are exploring all the legal remedies available, including an appeal of the order at the Court of Appeal. Presently, we have recorded instances of disturbances underground because the small-scale miners do not know the boundaries underground. They just assume every place underground is for them because there is a court order.

“The court order is limited to the small area of 25 acres and not the whole of our Shaft 2 and Shaft 4, as they are attempting to claim. So, these are serious issues of boundaries that have come up and would need to be addressed to bring sanity,” he said in a written response.