The Minister for Lands and Natural Resources, Emmanuel Kofi-Armah Buah, has called on the Minerals Commission to become a central ally in the fight to protect Ghana’s natural resources.

The minister made this appeal during a strategic meeting held with the management and staff of the Minerals Commission, emphasising the urgency of reforming existing regulatory structures and halting activities that have contributed to environmental degradation.

Illegal mining has remained one of the most pressing challenges confronting Ghana’s natural resource management in recent years.

Despite numerous efforts by successive governments to curb the practice, illegal mining continues to pose a significant threat to the country’s forests, farmlands, and especially its water bodies — many of which are now heavily polluted with dangerous chemicals like mercury and cyanide.

At the heart of the minister’s address was a call for the Minerals Commission to take on a more proactive and accountable role in regulating mining activities, particularly in relation to the licensing process.

He stressed that the Commission is not only a regulatory body but also a key stakeholder in the broader mission to safeguard Ghana’s environmental heritage and ensure responsible exploitation of its mineral resources.

“The Minerals Commission is going to support me. By the time I leave here, I am not sure we will give any more prospecting licenses. This top-down approach to licensing must now be a bottom-up approach to licensing.

“Before we even agree to give you anything, we would have already, with the Minerals Commission guys down there, with EPA, and all the team, met the authorities and the landowners, the agreed community engagement, and then a recommendation will now come to the headquarters for recommendation for licensing.”