President John Dramani Mahama has pledged to permanently ban mining in the country’s forest reserves, announcing plans to amend the Minerals and Mining Act of 2003.
Addressing the nation on Wednesday, May 7, about his administration’s progress in the first 120 days, President Mahama outlined a comprehensive strategy to overhaul the mining sector. This includes regulatory reforms, strengthened law enforcement, and land reclamation efforts.
“We’ve taken decisive action through a five-point strategy to sanitise the mining sector,” President Mahama said.
“Seven out of nine reserves have been reclaimed, and illegal miners have been flushed out.”
A legislative instrument, L.I. 2462, was presented to Parliament on March 20, 2025, to amend the Environmental Protection (Mining in Forest Reserves) Regulations.
This amendment removes the president’s discretionary power to permit mining in forest reserves.
President Mahama pledged to go further by amending the Minerals and Mining Act itself.
“I plan to amend the Act to completely prohibit mining in forest reserves, effectively, meticulously, legally, and entirely banning mining in our forest reserves,” he promised.
