Fixing The Country: Open letter to Minister for Lands and Natural resources - Part 1

Dear Hon Minister for Lands and Natural Resources

Good day Sir,

Sir, as a constructive senior citizens, I consider have a duty to perform to the following;

Firstly, to Almighty God, the Maker of Heaven and Earth and the maker of all living things including Animals and especially Human beings and Has bestowed (blessed) this great Nation called Ghana, with rich deposits of gold, Bauxite, Manganese, Diamond, Iron, Industrial Minerals like Salt, limestone etc and other Natural Resources like Timber, Rivers, and abundant arable land for the utilization by the Nation for the wellbeing of the Citizenry. As such he gave the human species with brains to be utilized for the benefits of Mankind. So, the proponents of our 1992 Constitution, especially Dr SKB Asante, the Asokorehene or the Paramount Chief of Asokore Asante and 8 others utilized their fine brain and proposed for the inclusion in the 1992 Constitution which anchored the Fourth Republic that all public lands and all minerals etc in Ghana are vested in the President on behalf of and in trust for, the people of Ghana.

Secondly, to Mankind especially my fellow brave and great Compatriots especially the blood of the fallen and missing heroes who together with the living patriots (including Mr Kwesi Pratt, Mr Paul Afoko, Madam Bolico who was one time my godmother, the then Lawyer Nana Addo now President of Ghana, Kwesi Aidoo, Kofi Baako Junior and others who fearlessly combated the PNDC and forced the PNDC to return this great Nation from era of Military Dictatorship to Democratic Republic under the 1992 Constitution. This 1992 Constitution which brought about this glorious Fourth Republic which anchor has held for the past 30 years despite the pervasive corruption and mismanagement by all previous Administrations and the current Administration.

Thirdly, to the 93% of the Voters, who together, we all came out in our numbers and voted Yes on 28 April 1992 in the Referendum and approved or accepted the 1992 Constitution as the embodiment of Popular Sovereignty of the People of Ghana. And among other provisions in the 1992 Constitution, we the People of Ghana vested in the President of Ghana on behalf of, and in trust for us, the people of Ghana at Article 257 (1) all Public Lands and Article 275 (6) ‘Every mineral in its natural state in under or upon any land in Ghana, rivers, streams, water course throughout Ghana, the exclusive zone and above. Fourthly to the History of this great nation especially on matters pertaining to the Mining Sector.

So, I write as a follow up to my submissions to you on matters pertaining to the Minerals and Mining Law to re-brief you on the Mining industry especially the Small Scale Mining Sector with the view to presenting the way forward to ensure the good wellbeing of the Citizenry by effective and efficient compliance of the requirements of Article 275 (6) of the 1992 Constitution by His Excellency, the President.

Hon, Minister before I proffer my submission, it is proper for you to know the author of this mail especially his connection with and relevance in the Mining Sector under your watch. So, Sir, I got the interest to support the Mining Industry as well as the growth of Small Scale Mining, when I was privileged to be the Rep of the Ghana Army (through 2BN Takoradi) at the Western Regional Security Council (the current CEO of COCOBOD, Hon Mr Joseph Boahen Aidoo, was then the Western Regional Minister and Chairman of the REGSEC). The Region had serious security issues especially banditry activities and violent crimes especially armed robbery and Galamsey operations outside and within Registered and Mining Companies Concessions.

So I came out with a submission to the Western Regional Security Council for the re-introduction of OPERATIONS CALM LIFE, this was accepted. Luckily, we were able to secure funding from Alhaji Asoma Banda and others as well as from the then Seat of Government, Osu Castle through my friends including the late Atiemo, then Chief Director. With some vehicles made available by COCOBOD to 2BN and troops supplied by the Western Regional Police Command, Ghana Airforce Base Takoradi, Naval Base Sekondi and 2BN Takoradi, I caused the re-launching of OPERATION CALM LIFE in the Western Region in the early parts of 2001. We were able to stabilize the situation.

Hon, Minister in 2001, the Mining Companies in the Western Region had serious security challenges especially labour crisis at the current Gold Fields Tarkwa, (the Mining Concession was initially owned by an Australian Company, which sold the Concessions to Goldfields and failed to pay severance award to the Worker so the REGSEC went and resolved the impasse to allow the operations of Goldfields, Tarkwa), raping of a wife of expatriate and robbery at Ghana Manganese, Tarkwa, armed robbery at AngloGold Ashanti Iduamprim Tarkwa, Community/illegal mining and denial of Golden Star Resources (Bogoso Mine) access to operation at Prestea, illegal mining activities at St Jude Gold Resources Concession near Benso which later became the Concession of Golden Star Wassa Mine Akyeampim and illegal mining activities at general areas in the Region.

So the affected Mining Companies led by Mr YB Amponsah (now Labour Consultant) but then Head of HR/Administration Department with now Hon Adjei Mensah MP for Daboasi area but then Head of HR/Administration at Bogoso Mine, Bogoso and others made a case and through the REGSEC, I deployed the elements of OPERATION CALM LIFE in the locations of the affected Mining Companies and they troops dominated their areas with mobile patrols that helped and reduced the associated risk hazards within their operational areas.

Hon, Minister as stated above, in 2001 Golden Star Resources and Barnex signed a purchase deal involving $20Million Dollars and some shareholding for the Prestea Concession including the Prestea Underground Mine. But Golden Star met a stiff opposition both legal (injunction) and physical action by the people of Prestea due to the alleged illegal mining activities by the Ex-staff who wrongly re-invested their severance award cash into the operations of mining activities both in the Concession and the Underground Mining assets of Barnex and want to recoup their investments. So, the REGSEC organized several futile meetings with the people of Prestea. Due

to my combat effectiveness (Officer from 2Bn imbued with fighting spirits), a team from Golden Star Resources led by Col Amadu Disu (rtd) at a REGSEC Meeting to resolve the impasse, saw the Chairman of the REGSEC and convinced me to resign from the Ghana Army to take up an appointment of a Security Superintendent at Bogoso Mine to help the Golden Star to gain access to the Prestea Concession. So, I resigned and joined the Bogoso Mine and with the support of the then Lt Opoku Agyemang of 2BN (now Colonel Opoku Agyemang) then with troops from Ghana Police and 2Bn Takoradi, we battled the people of Prestea and managed to secure the Prestea Concession. We also succeeded in providing security for the successful completion of the Public Hearing at the Prestea Stadium, after which we were seriously attacked by some of the people of Prestea. So we had to provide firing cover for the escape of officials of EPA, the Bogoso Mine, the Media (especially GBC) which had its vehicle destroyed by our assailants. With the support of the Chairman of the REGSEC, through the Western Regional Police Command and 2BN we ejected the Galamsey operators in the Concession and secured the operations of Golden Star in Prestea, the rest is history.

Hon Minister, to further deal with the security problems at the Mining Areas of the Ghana Chamber of Mines, I caused the formation of the Security Committee of the Ghana Chamber of Mines by Dr Joyce Aryee, then CEO of the Ghana Chamber of Mines with the current CEO, then a Departmental Head and was made the Member/Security. I had to host the maiden and the subsequent years meeting before member Companies and the Security Agencies within the areas bought my idea. This saw the collaboration within the Mining Companies and between them and the State Security Agencies (especially then BNI, the Police, the Military) to deal with related security issues and sometimes held seminars with the judicial during which proposals were made which he resulted in the amendment of some of the Mining Laws.

Hon Minister, at Bogoso Mine together with other Managers, we tried to relocate over 5,000 Galamsey operators from the Bogoso Catchment area especially Bogoso/Prestea and some Galamsey operators from AngloGold Ashanti Obuasi through the Consultancy services of GEOMAN Consult Ghana to the area of Ayanfuri area with funding from Golden Star but that did not work due to technical issues. So Perseus Mining Company took over the Concession. With the approval of the MD, I caused the Galamsey operators in Prestea etc to form the Prestea Mining Group which they did. So, I encouraged the Mining Company and we ceded a portion of the Concession through Minerals Commission for Small Scale Mining activities to help sustain the economy and development of Prestea and that helped in the effective management of the Galamsey operators in a doctrine of ‘Live and Let us Live’ which I introduced at the Bogoso Mine.

Hon Minister, during the campaign for the second term for the President Kofour’s Administration, the late His Excellency Vice President Alhaji Aliu Mahama (my late father in-law because the son Hon Farouk, the Hon MP for Yendi is married to a daughter of one of my sisters or a member of the Bogobiri Family of Navrongo) and his entourage which included Hon Harunah Majid, then a Deputy Minister for Mines (my senior in Navrongo Secondary School) were hosted by the Bogoso Mine on their request. So I briefed them about the good collaboration between the Mine and the

people of the catchment area especially Prestea and the intention of the Bogoso Mine and AngloGold Ashanti Obuasi to resettle Galamsey operators in their concession at Ayanfuri and the formation of the Prestea Mining Group.

Hon Minister, it was part of this briefing that made the then VP, declared at that ‘Prestea is Galamsey and Galamsey is Prestea’, when he went to campaign in Prestea. It was based on this among others, that contributed to the His Excellency Ex-President Kofour’s Administration to send over 300 Small Scale Miners together with National Security Operators including the late Justice Tsar (he later became Executive Director of Serious Fraud Office during the era of His Excellency Ex-President JDM Mahama) to China to learn about mining activities as part of President Kofour’s bid for Ghanaians to capture the Commanding Heights in the Mining Sector. This saw the amalgamation of all the separate Mining Laws before 2006 into the Minerals and Mining Law 2006 (Act703).

Lastly, I supported the operations of Mining Companies at Prestea including Prestea Sankofa Gold and that of Mr Bernard Antwi Boasiako (Chairman Wontumi) in Prestea and beyond Kotokorum which is beyond Prestea and so I understand very well what is happening in the Mining Sector. I hope these details should make you appreciate my experiences in your sector and my little contribution to the Nation.

Mr Hon Minister, past Administrations have worked hard and the current Administration seemed to be working very hard to maximize revenue for the running of the State but the youth of this great nation are seriously looking for jobs for survival from the harsh economic condition which has been worsened by the COVID-19 pandemic, the Russia–Ukraine War, eviction/control of small scale miners (they were source of employment, local revenue and foreign exchange) and also mismanagement by all Regimes (previous and current) in the Fourth Republic cannot be ruled out.

Mr Hon Minister, the suffering we are going through should be regarded as a game changer for us to change our attitude by collaborating with each other, reducing our taste for foreign goods and working hard to restore the economy, thus this may help to reduce the suffering.

Thanks one of the Holy Books, the Bible which at Romans 13:1 states that: “Every person is to be in subjection to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those which exist are established by God.” Also, 1 Peter 2:13-14 declares : “Submit yourselves for the Lord’s sake to every human institution, whether to a king as the one in authority, or to governors as sent by him for the punishment of evildoers and the praise of those who do right.”. Hence God, one is right to say that the Almighty God, nominated His Excellency President Nana Addo and his Deputy His Excellency VP Dr Muhamadu Bawumia to lead us through these difficulties. So, our dear President really acknowledged the possibility of economic downturn or a great depression since the last 100 years or so and he indicated in his first Fellow Ghanaian National Address on the COVID-19 pandemic that he cannot revive a dead person but he can restore or resuscitate or fix a bad economy after the causal effect of the COVID-19 pandemic.

So, the President and his Deputy should be very thankful to the proponents of the 1992 Constitution who vested all Minerals in the President on behalf of and in trust for the people at Article 257(6), which can be used to help restore the economy as well as create millions of jobs for the youth, through the effort in the fixing of the economy beyond Aid with a new Template in replace of the Goggisburg economics template.

Hon Minister, Small Scale Mining is globally known as a poverty driven informal economic activity conducted mainly by Artisanal Mining methods hence labour intensive and thus acknowledged globally to be a source of employment for over 100 million operators. In Ghana, previous researches conducted into the sector revealed that about one (1) million artisanal miners operated in the Upstream. Research indicated that about four (4) million people were also involved in both the Side Stream (Supply Chain or supported services) and the Downstream (distribution or sales, beautification or value addition by blacksmiths, makers of jewelries).

Hon Minister, the total of 5 million combined workforce in the three stages in the small scale mining industry in Ghana as stated above, was reported to support about two million dependents for sustenance or financial support thus making a total of 7 million or about 25% of Ghana’s population of about 28million as at 2015 depending on the Small Scale Mining industry. Hence, the Artisanal Mining sector provided the next highest employment numbers in Ghana after Agriculture, therefore it had both huge economic, political or socio-economic constituencies.

For these reasons, no Leader (Politician, Tradional, Social) or a political party that understands the demographic dynamics in the sector with complex Economic, Social and Political undertones would joke with this sector which must be given the necessary interventions to create and sustain jobs in the Small Scale Mining Sector and generate revenue for the Country as well as make Small Scale Mining to halt migration to the Cities and rather serves as a pull effect to the rural areas.

Hon Minister, the Economy Recovery Programe which was launched in 1980s by the PNDC, made the PNDC with the support of the World Bank to come out with the Structural Adjustment Programe and this led to the passage of the Mining and Minerals Law 1986 (PNDC153) to attract Direct Foreign Investment into the Mining Sector. At the time of the Structural Adjustment Programe, the Chairman of the PNDC (herein as the Late Papa J) and the World Bank detected widespread activities of Artisanal Miners including the participation of retrenched staff of Mining and other Companies due to the Structural Adjustment Programme.

Hon Minister, the affected Artisanal Miners who saw their mining activities as God-given answer to their miseries or an answer from God for their survival in such harsh living conditions, maintained the name of their activity as Galamsey operations which was coined during the Colonial rule era. So the Late Papa J, in his policy of if you cannot beat them find a way for a win

-win solution worked together with the World Bank and came out with Section 77 of the Mining and Minerals Law 1986 (PNDCL153) on Small Scale Mining and regularized their operation. You may wish for confirmation then please contact my good friend Mr Ben Aryee, a former CEO of Minerals Commission who is one of your Technical Advisers or please Google for it.

Hon Minister, the Legalization process which was started by the PNDC, was just a Destination or a Target or the Objective, for the initiation of the Formalization process through legislations and policies for the trip to the Objective or Destination or Target (Legalization).

So Hon Minister, after able to buy the support of the artisanal miners and in order to kill two birds with one stone (bird number one the associated risks or hazards and bird number two restrict Small Scale mining to only the locals so as to prevent Ghanaian tycoons solely or with foreign collaborators to capture Small Scale Mining to the detrimental of the youth or the people of the rural areas), the PNDC came out with the Small Scale Gold Mining Law 1989 (PNDCL215), when the law restricted it to only Ghanaians of not less than 18 years and that an area will be designated for Small Scale Mining if and only if it is in or for the interest of the affected areas and the law placed caveats (limitations) which included not more than 4 acres for one person, and not more than 25 acres for Cooperative of 10 or more people, no use of excavators (or sophisticated equipment and Technology), no use of substantial amount of money and no use of Explosives etc. Thus Small Scale Mining is not for business tycoons with excavators and or with substantial amount.

For effective regulations, control, monitoring and inspections, the PNDC also came out with the Headquarters of the Small Scale Mining at Tarkwa and established District Mining Committees at all affected mining areas to support and control the activities of Small Scale Miners.

Hon Minister, before 1989, there was lack of legal and credible market avenue for gold and diamond, so smuggling of gold and diamond was then the order of the day, so to deal with this associated economic Risk, the PNDC enacted the Precious Minerals Marketing Company Law 1989 (PNDCL218) for the Company to buy gold from the operators as well support them and initially to be responsible for the backfilling of the spent out mining pits of the Galamsey operators. A certain percentage of earnings was deducted from gold sales for that.

Hon Minister, the PNDC Law on Small Scale Gold Mining law 218 of 1989 was applied in 1996 by the Minerals Commission for the legalization and formalization (regularization) of Galamsey Mining Communities namely Kejetia Mining Community and Obuasi Mining Community established in Gbane in the Talensi District initially in 1994 by some people from the Kingdom of His Royal Majesty the Ashantehene. You may wish to read the organization set up of the miners at the site, so please see Appendix 1 to my submission.

Hon Minister pardon me to reiterate that Small Scale Mining is a global poverty driven phenomenon by over 100 millions of people, who mostly do so in an irresponsible manner, especially without care to the environment, and very disturbing social and economy concerns. It is done mainly by rural folks in most countries including China, Columbia, Nigeria, South Africa, Brazil, Tanzania, DR Congo, Indonesia, Sierra Leone, Mongolia, and Burkina Faso so Ghana is no exception and therefore fair share of the hazard since 1471 before the arrival of the Portuguese. It is done as a subsistence economy activity, hence an informal economy thus with illegal undertone.

Hence, International Communities/Institutions like the USAID, UNDP, the World Bank and some Large Scale Mining Companies are supporting with funding to some of the affected Countries to help make Small Scale Mining, a responsible sustainable livelihood and Sustainable Development through compliance with legal frameworks with view to getting the miners operate Alternative Livelihood Projects for final settlement into these projects. Example in Ivory Coast, USAID is supporting some of them to invest their revenue in farming of Avocado etc crops so as to stop them from mining. So with proper definitions of Small Scale Mining, Ghana should be able to attract the support from the International Communities/Institutions to deal with the menace.

Hon Minister, So, Ghana must go along with other affected countries and the International Communities with the proper or the same global definition of Small Scale Mining. It is therefore recommended that Ghana should adopt the global definition, so as to divorce Small Scale Mining basically Artisanal Mining from semi-mechanized/full-mechanized mining methods by revisiting the laws enacted by the PNDC for Small Scale Mining and maintain them separately with the caveats as stipulated in the law which restricted it to Cooperative Mining now Community mining mainly for Ghanaians not less than 18 years after acquisition of the Right to Mine.

Hon Minister, the Community or Cooperative Mining should not be initiated by the State (normally, this is seen with political colour or lens), but rather the affected people should come together as a Cooperative and through their Chief and the District Small Scale Mining Committee to obtain Small Scale Mining licenses from the Minerals Commission same as what was done at Gbane in 1996. The Precious Marketing Company, EPA and Minerals Commission to collaborate to provide training in technical and managerial activities or simply extension services to the affected persons.

Hon Minister, like the Chinese Ambassador once said it was and is still the Ghanaians who brought and bring the Chinese to Ghana, so I hereby confirm that it was the fault of Ghana Government (especially your Ministry and to some extent the Ministry of Foreign Affairs,) that caused the Chinese to invade the Small Scale Mining Sector since 2007.

Hon Minister, proper thinking or efficient risk analysis was not done by your Ministry and the Attorney General Office in coming out with the Small Scale Mining Law 81 to 99 within the Minerals and Mining Law 2006 (Act703). This so because, the definition into the law is problematic or ambiguous, so after the declaration of the late His Excellency VP Aliu Mahama that Prestea is Galamsey and Galammsey is Prestea before 2006, so when President Kofour won the second term and he came out with a policy to get Ghanaians to be in the commanding heights in Mining. Minerals Commission should come out with a proper law to divorce small scale mining from mechanized mining or mining with sophisticated equipment and substantial amount.

Also when from 2006 to 2008, the President Kofour Administration sent over 300 Ghanaians allegedly Small Scale Miners with personnel of the then BNI Officers or National Security Operators including my good friend the late Justice Tsar, (who later rose to become the Executive Director of Serious Fraud Office in His Excellency Ex-President JD Mahama’s administration) to

China to go and learn about mining, the intelligence revealed that the Ghanaians with our usual attitude of collaborating with foreigners to transact business on the blind side of the authorities, exhibited their brand and made a deal with some Chinese to come and support or collaborate with them to conduct mining in Ghana. But the Authorities failed to act to deal with the likely risks or were corrupt since they knew the law and failed or refused to act. Hence, the coming of the Chinese with excavators in drones and their destruction of our environment was/is self- inflicted due to bad governance in the Mining Sector.

Hon Minister, knowing the character or attitude of Ghanaians, so when the Ghana Government sent the Ghanaians to China to study mining, the wiser thing your Ministry and the Attorney General should have done then in 2006 or as at date was or is to come out with proper law for small scale mining and a new nomenclature in the Mining Industry as Medium Scale Mining for Junior Mining Companies in addition to the Large Scale Mining activities of member Companies of the Ghana Chamber of Mines and the Small Scale Mining for local Cooperatives as defined in PNDC Law 218 for Small Scale Gold Mining or after doing the right thing with the proper definition of Small Scale Mining should be made same as accepted globally.

Hon Minister, a cursory study has shown that the Chinese may be God send to this Country but only the state Official could not or cannot think outside the box otherwise corrupt officials.

Hon Minister, the Chinese may be God sent because they helped in the growth of the economy of this Country through revenue generation at least VAT and employment for the youth and the development of the Country. Sir, just take trips within Kumasi and other mining towns like Obuasi, Dunkwa, Anhiakwanta and area of the then Shaanxi Mining Company at the Talensi District and you will see visible investments by the illegal Small Scale Miners from China or the change in the landscapes of these areas by the Chinese. It is wrong to say their operation was illegal because they Chinese were brought to Ghana by Ghanaians in collaboration of State Officials even with the knowledge of some Officials at the Presidency.

Hon Minister, I envisaged that the Chinese do not save most of their revenue from the Gold in the Banks in the County that is why we do not have a Chinese bank in Ghana nor sell their gold in Ghana. So a relevant State officials should have asked since 2007 how the Chinese bring their cash into Ghana and repatriate their revenue or investments or cash, the answer would be simple, some of them through smuggling.

Hon Minister in 2013, the Daily News published in www.hurriyetdailynews.com dated 08 January 2013 of a mystery on an A300 Cargo plane with 1.5tons of gold worth US$65million from Ghana to Dubai which was held at Istanbul’s Ataturk Airport due to underhand dealings or was it missing documents at the Airport. Also Myjoyonline published in www.myjonline.com on 26 January 2022, ) a story with the title Ghana loses US$2Billion in taxes due to undervaluation of gold exports, reportedly as findings in a research by the Institute for Statistical, Social and Economic Research (ISSER) which was conducted within the era between 2011 and 2017.

Hon Minister, the Ghana Export Promotion Authority (GEPA) in www.gepaghana.orrg dated 18 January 2018 indicated that the Precious Minerals Marketing Company could not trace most of the Small Scale Mining Companies involved in the export of 2 billion worth of gold in 2016.

Hon Minister, our President lamented (reported) in 2018 that over 5 Billion Dollars of illegal or smuggled Gold from Ghana was reported as sold in United Emirates and it was also reported that over 2 Billion Dollars was the average yearly loss of gold through smuggling. Since 2018 no action by the people of full of lamentation for action to maximize revenue and generate employment for Ghanaians. I envisaged God has been weeping for his people failing to think outside the box otherwise He is waiting for the affected persons for their corrupt actions.

Hon Minister, the Chinese have been in Ghana in large numbers for mining activities with excavators since 2007. For instance they were in Talensi since 2008 in a then illegal collaboration with local Ghanaian small scale miners with the clear knowledge of State Officials including Officials at Minerals Commission and the Presidency. Google for the Impact of Chinese Involvement in Small-scale Gold Mining in Ghana Professor Gordon Crawford, Coleman Agyeyomah, Gabriel Botchwey and Atinga Mba dated May 2015 and footnotes at page 15 which stated that the company’s Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Wei Xin, reported in May 2012 that the company held discussions with the Presidency, Minerals Commission, Regional Minister, District Chief Executive, traditional rulers before starting operations.

Hon Minister, we all know that mining requires the injection of massive capital (cash, equipment and Technology), so the invitation by the Ghanaian businessmen for their Chinese or foreign partners as intelligence shows should not be a problem but the problem was that our Officials failed to think outside the Box and come out with a separate law as Medium Scale Mining law for Ghanaian tycoons to operate solely or with foreigners, which is their trademark as research has revealed that the illegal Small Scale Miners (tycoons) collaborated with Chinese in the Small Scale Mining sector. The story which alleged the NPP Women Organizer collaborated with some Canadians provides documentary evidence. Google for Task force destroy NPP Women Organizers 20 excavators in the Eastern Region reported 17 May 2021.

Hon Minister It is disturbing to note that since 2016, Dr Tony Aubin, then CEO of the Minerals Commission agreed with the idea of separating small scale mining with a logically definition so as to divorce it from Small Scale mechanized mining. So Small Scale mechanized mining will be termed as Medium Scale Mining or Junior Mining to be backed by legislation. He did so in 2021. You may read this at Let’s redefine small scale mining on Current Affairs programme dated 18 April 2021 on Asaase Radio with Dr Kwaku Agyeman-Budu. Yet as at date nothing has been done. And the collaboration with the Chinese is ongoing whilst our Hon Minister for Finance is fighting for more revenues and sees the obnoxious E-Wallet or MoMo levy as an answer and we left out efficient operation of Article 257 (6) as the answer. No proper action to arrest the loss of billions of dollars or revenue through sales, tax, SSNIT, PAYE etc.

Hon Minister it is high time, we get Parliament of Ghana to repeal the current ambiguous or bad Small Scale Mining Law and come out with two different nomenclatures namely Medium Scale Mining and Small Scale Mining in the Mining Sector in addition to large scale mining and to be backed by laws, namely Medium Scale Mining Law and Small Scale Mining Law.

Hon Minister some aspects on how to operate the Medium Scale Mining as well as to arrest smuggling, maximize revenue and generate employment will be communicated to you in part two to this mail.

Major Bogobiri (rtd)

Appendix 1 -Kejetia and Obuasi artisanal mining (Galamsey) village at Gbane, near Bolga.

In 1994, two different groups of people from Kejetia or Kumasi and Obuasi travelled to Gbane in the Talensi District in the North and occupied two viable mineral (mineable) areas in the area and created the Kejetia Galamsey Mining Village and the Obuasi Mining village in 1994. Their operations was discovered and legalized/regularized by the Minerals Commission and EPA in 1996. First, the indigenes of the area acquired the Mining Rights from Minerals Commission and permits from EPA for cooperative mining. Hence, the area was thus brought under both National Governance system under the Sector Minister/Minerals Commission and Minister for Environment and the EPA and Local Governance system under the District Mining Committee/District Assembly.

The two Mining Communities also instituted governance systems, as the Gbane Chief appointed his Representative (sub-Chief) for each of these two artisanal mining communities. Each tribal group also nominated its leader or sub-Chief to help the appointed Reps of the Gbane Chief to dominate the areas with delegated authority. All persons respected the Tindanaa as the Spiritual Leader of the area and consulted him whenever an incident especially a fatal one occurred or when they needed to step up gold production.

The Individual well do (rich) miners termed as barons acquired mineable areas from the Owner of the Mining Right (owner of the Concession) and together with a mining team or staff of six to nine members, the barons constructed pits or mining Adith within their Mining Rights. As stated the miners operated in a grouping system consisting of a leader who may double as the baron owner of the Pits (Ghetto) and the financier, other members of a group or team includes, diggers, blast man, hauling team/processing team, security and local boy (loco) as liaison officer etc. The members contributed and undertook self-help community projects or construction of infrastructure such as a school.