The Coordinator of Eco-Conscious Citizens, Awula Serwah, has welcomed the government’s decision to revoke the Environmental Protection (Mining in Forest Reserves) Legislative Instrument, 2025, describing it as a step in the right direction. However, she cautioned that the fight against illegal mining, or galamsey, remains far from over.
The revocation instrument, laid before Parliament on Friday, October 31, seeks to repeal L.I. 2501 — which limited the President’s authority to approve mining in forest reserves — and completely revoke L.I. 2462, which has long been criticised for enabling environmentally destructive mining activities.
According to the Ministry of Environment, Science and Technology, the repeal forms part of a broader strategy to combat illegal mining through measures such as the Responsible Cooperative Mining and Skills Development Programme (rCOMSDEP) and operations led by the National Anti-Illegal Mining Operations Secretariat (NAIMOS).
Speaking on Citi Eyewitness News on Friday, October 31, Serwah commended the move but warned that illegal mining continues to ravage Ghana’s forests despite the legislative changes.
“It is a step in the right direction but we know that the house is on fire and right now it looks like we are using buckets of water instead of calling the fire service. What I am saying is that even with the revocation of L.I 2462, there is still illegal mining going on in forest reserves.
“…I am saying that so much is a step in the right direction and we applaud it, but we can’t celebrate as our waterbodies are still being poisoned, as the rise in kidney diseases has gone up four times, as we are being told that we can’t consume ‘kontomire’ because most of it is poisoned and a lot of our foodstuff are poisoned,” she said.
