Page 46 - Apmor 2018

mining artisanal mining

1,000 dredging machines being removed Ghana have called on the government to an external consultant to compile a report. The
from illegal mining sites. This policy was also follow suit. But officials have made it clear that spokesperson pointed out that the effects of
accompanied by an intense advocacy and they are not considering such a move. Instead actions such as the seizure of machinery are
engagement programme aimed at educating they say they will support small-scale miners typically temporary. Instead of these figures,
miners about the harmful effects of galamsey. seeking to operate within the law. the spokesperson said that real progress must
be measured by rates of land reclamation and
levels of enforcements of the ban, aspects on
With gold mining accounting for which the report will focus.
Finally, there are indications that around 8% of Ghana’s GDP, a Tackling galamsey
legal enforcement against galamsey blanket ban would significantly cut
is on the rise too. Ghana’s Chief into government revenue. It would The problem of galamsey will be very difficult
Justice recently designated 14 also be disastrous for those who for Ghana to solve. From the centrality of
actors from China, one of Ghana’s biggest
courts to hear illegal mining-related rely on mining for their livelihoods; trade partners; to the importance of small-
cases in a bid to expedite them. these individuals that are often the scale mining in creating jobs in a country
On 17 April, the vice-president most vulnerable in society. suffering from high youth unemployment; to
announced that the government the allegedly close relations between criminal
has suspended the issuance of networks and regional police; galamsey is
deeply woven into many aspects of Ghana’s
small-scale mining licenses until Nevertheless, the government’s clampdown current reality.
galamsey is tackled. on galamsey has affected official gold
production rates. The Minister of Lands and Tackling the problem will therefore take a
Natural Resources suggests this drop means range of strategies that must be pursued
the policies are working, recognising that a comprehensively and in a long-term manner.
This will be particularly
tough for the NPP given
Nana Akufo-Addo that it has inherited a
Ghanian President cash-strapped state and
problems of endemic
corruption.
The new administration
has adopted an approach
of pursuing those
involved in illegal mining
whilst also pushing
people towards legal
alternatives. Clamping
down can often end
up simply pushing the
activity further into
the illicit sphere, and
whether Ghana can buck
this trend will only be
seen in the long run.
Nonetheless, the
combination of
energetic media
attention, grassroots
campaigns and a host
of government policies
perhaps provides the
best hope for some time
that the country can truly
Livelihoods and the law significant proportion of Ghana’s gold exports tackle galamsey - and, with it, the associated
are illegally mined. problems of rising crime, lost revenue and
In its approach, the government has fallen environmental destruction. (Courtesy of
short of issuing a blanket ban on all metal In order more comprehensively to assess the African Arguments)
mining activities, legal and illegal. El Salvador efficacy of the government’s new measures, a Edward Burrows and Lucia Bird are associates
became the first country in the world to adopt spokesperson for the Media Coalition Against with the Global Initiative against Transnational
this strategy in March, and some groups in Galamsey informed the authors that it is hiring Organised Crime.

46 | AFRICAN POWER Mining & Oil Review Vol 21, Issue 20, 2017