Ghana's Mining Crisis: Wacam, CEPIL, CEIA Call for Non-Partisan Solution!
Wacam, the Centre for Public Interest Law (CEPIL), and the Centre for Environmental Impact Analysis (CEIA) have advocated a non-partisan approach to address the destructive effects of surface mining operations, including galamsey.
The three CSOs also believe that a moratorium on all categories of mining licences will help curb the menace of illegal mining and its associated harmful effects.
“The large-scale nature of the current mining boom, referred to as the ‘Third Jungle Boom’, resulted in extensive destruction of lands of indigenous communities whose main occupation is farming. The introduction of surface mining in the third jungle boom also introduced extraction of gold using cyanide in heap leach, a method considered by mining investors to be cost-effective. Since then, the country has experienced cyanide spillages,” they said in a statement dated October 17, 2024.
The call for such actions comes amidst increasing pressure on the government from civil society organisations (CSOs), religious bodies, leaders, prominent personalities, and ordinary citizens to halt the illicit activity destroying water bodies and forests nationwide.
The joint statement, signed by Executive Directors: Augustine Niber of CEPIL, Dr. Samuel Obiri of CEIA, and Kwaku Afari, Technical Director of Wacam emphasised that these three CSOs have consistently warned about the dangers of mining in forest reserves since 2002.
“Specifically, we have highlighted the devastating impact of mine wastewater on forests and waterbodies, which communities rely on for drinking water,” it added.
“A 2009 study by CEIA, commissioned by Wacam, found alarming levels of heavy metals (arsenic, cadmium, mercury, and lead) polluting waterbodies in Tarkwa and Obuasi mining areas,” the statement indicated.
According to the statement, the Minerals and Mining Act, 2006 (Act 703) contains weaknesses that have contributed to irresponsible mining practices throughout Ghana. A key concern highlighted is the inadequate compensation provided to poor farmers, which has forced many to abandon their livelihoods and engage in illicit mining.
“Compensation problems arise when mining companies pay paltry sums to poor farmers, who lack the negotiating power to secure fair and adequate compensation. This has led to economic and physical displacement of host communities, resulting in worsening poverty among the affected populations. …So, the previously hardworking farmers who lost their farms and livelihoods to multinational mining operations were compelled to become miners who had been introduced to the use of cyanide and other dangerous chemicals for the extraction of gold. That was how indigenous people who were farmers were transformed to become miners in different forms like galamseyers and small-scale miners in the present mining boom,” it noted.
Against this backdrop, Wacam, CEIA, and CEPIL urged a comprehensive review of Ghana’s mining laws and regulations to incorporate robust environmental safeguards, ensuring responsible and sustainable mining practices.
“We are also calling for promotion of joint citizens’ mass actions involving the clergy, churches, workers, market women, media, traditional authorities, etc., to hold governments to commitments to fight all forms of surface mining issues, including galamsey,” the CSOs recommended.