The Acting Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Gold Board (GoldBod), Sammy Gyamfi, has revealed that the Legislative Instrument (L.I) 2462, which currently allows the President to grant mining permits in forest reserves, will be repealed immediately after Parliament reconvenes.
In an interview on Channel One TV on Wednesday, April 23, Mr. Gyamfi disclosed that the delay in revoking the controversial regulation was due to legal consultations over whether it should be amended or entirely annulled.
He assured the public that the Mahama-led National Democratic Congress (NDC) government is fully committed to scrapping the instrument.
“L.I 2462 will be revoked by the NDC/Mahama government immediately Parliament resumes,” Gyamfi stated. “There were legal issues as to whether or not it should be amended or revoked because there is a school of thought that revoking it could lead to a certain vacuum and that what had to be cured was the discretion or power given to the president to grant mining leases for people to mine in protected forest zones.”
He explained that while some legal experts favoured amendment, the majority consensus was that the regulation was fundamentally flawed and must be repealed completely.
“Then there was another school of thought that said, look, let’s revoke the entire law — even if we get a vacuum, we can come up with a new L.I… but the L.I 2462 is poisonous. It should go in its entirety. Those who made that argument have won. We are a listening government,” he added.
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Mr. Gyamfi further confirmed that Attorney General Dr. Dominic Ayine has finalized a bill to repeal the regulation, and it is ready to be tabled in Parliament once the House returns from recess.
The move aligns with the NDC’s broader environmental policy agenda under President John Dramani Mahama, who has consistently voiced opposition to illegal and destructive mining practices, commonly referred to as galamsey.
The repeal of L.I 2462 signals a significant shift in mining policy and a recommitment to sustainable environmental stewardship.
If repealed, the decision is expected to have far-reaching implications for Ghana’s forest reserves, many of which have come under threat due to mining activities in recent years.
