There have been reforms at the Minerals Commission as part of ongoing efforts to restructure the commission and strictly enforce mining laws.

As part of the shake-up, many officers have been transferred and reassigned across regional, district and satellite offices of the commission.

Some officers at the head office have also been transferred.

A document originating from the Minerals Commission and available to the Daily Graphic showed that 21 officers at various ranks had been reassigned across the 16 regions and mining districts across the country.

The officials affected by the transfers included regional officers in charge of mining duties, Administrative Officers, Deputy Chief Inspectors of Mine, Principal Inspectors of Mine, Assistant Managers, Principal Officers and Assistant Officers.

The transfers

The document showed that the secretary at the Human Resource and Administration Department at the head office had been transferred to the Kenyasi District Office while the Deputy Chief Mining Officer at Takoradi Regional Office had been moved to the head office in Accra.

Also, two mining officers in the Koforidua regional office have been reassigned to Hohoe and Ho regional offices respectively, with Assistant Regional Satellite officers in Koforidua also moving to the Kpassa and Aflao satellite offices.

The principal Inspector of Mines in Koforidua has also been moved to the Kumasi regional office with a senior inspector of Mines in Tamale also moving to Kumasi.

The transfers took effect from May 19, while others would start on June 1, 2021.

Rationale

An official at the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources confirmed the transfers to the Daily Graphic, saying that the move was meant to make the Minerals Commission more efficient in protecting the country’s mineral resources.

The source said as part of the ongoing reforms, more regional, district and satellite offices had been created across the country to decentralise the licensing regime and enhance monitoring of mining operations

Additionally, the source said the Minerals Commission was vigorously digitising its data to fully take its operations online in the next six months.

The move, the source said, would help to reduce delays in the licensing process and abolish the paper-based application.

Human resource

According to the source, the commission was also hiring more mining engineers to beef up compliance with health and safety rules of mining activities.

The source also said a number of staff were being trained in such critical areas as mineral economics, metal finance, ventilation and geotechnical engineering to beef up their skills and knowledge.