The Acting Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Gold Board (GoldBod), Sammy Gyamfi, has revealed that Legislative Instrument (L.I) 2462, which currently sanctions mining activities within forest reserves, will be revoked as soon as Parliament reconvenes.
Speaking during an interview on Channel One TV on Wednesday, 23 April, Mr Gyamfi reaffirmed former President John Dramani Mahama’s firm opposition to illegal mining, widely referred to as galamsey.
He clarified that the delay in repealing the L.I stems from ongoing legal consultations over whether it should be amended or entirely annulled.
Nonetheless, he assured the public that all the requisite preparatory steps for its revocation have already been taken.
Mr Gyamfi disclosed that the Attorney General, Dr Dominic Ayine, has confirmed that a bill to repeal the contentious regulation 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 stated.
He concluded that the decision to abolish the legislation aligns with the NDC’s renewed commitment to sustainable environmental management and protecting Ghana’s forest resources from exploitative mining practices.
