Speaking in an interview with Bernard Avle on Channel One TV’s The Point of View on Monday, April 28, Dr. Aubynn argued that the regulation should be scrapped and replaced with a new legal framework better suited to protecting the environment and effectively regulating the sector.

He stated that the government is making progress in tackling the issue of galamsey, cautioning that it would be unfair to judge its efforts after just four months in office.

“I think the government is on course in the area of small-scale mining, even if you think that it has not been as fast as you expect. This problem has been age-old. It’s been here for a very long time, so four months is certainly too short a period for you to say that it [Mahama government] succeeded in addressing the challenge or not,” he said.

Dr. Aubynn voiced strong support for the repeal of LI 2462, criticising the law for allowing mining activities within forest reserves.

“The LI 2462, I support the idea that it should be repealed. It should be completely repealed, and maybe a new law brought in. But if you read the law very carefully and compare it with the policy that existed before then, the danger associated with that law is the fact that it allows the minister to allow for mining in the forests,” he explained.

He further noted that earlier policies did not entirely ban mining in forest areas but made it a highly restricted and difficult process.

“In the old policies, it didn’t completely ban mining in the forests, but it made it such a difficult enterprise. There were only a few companies that had the concessions to mine in the forests,” he added.

The L.I. 2462, titled Environmental Protection (Mining in Forest Reserves) Regulations, was passed in November 2022.