Talensi: Tension mounts in Gbane mining community over execution of Bolga High Court order

The enforcement of a Bolgatanga High Court order has generated tension and heightened insecurity in the mining community of Gbane in the Talensi District of the Upper East Region.

In what stakeholders and security watchers have described as a volatile situation, the continuous presence and mining operations of Nanlamtaaba Enterprise, a small-scale mining company in Gbane under the orders of the court, has the potential to fuel a breeding conflict between Gbane and Namoaligo.

On 21st November, 2025, the Bolgatanga High Court presided over by His Lordship Justice Ernest Pascal Gemadzie ordered the Upper East Regional Police Command to provide protection and assistance to a small-scale miner, Zongdaan Boyak Kolog, popularly known as Poloo, who operates under the name and class of Nanlamtaaba Enterprise, to undertake mining operations in the Gbane area though the miner does not hold a valid mining license nor operating permits from both the Minerals Commission and the Environmental Protection Authority.

The order for police protection was granted following an application by lawyers for the small-scale miner who complained of trespass in his concession by youth of the Gbane Community and a large-scale mining company, Earl International Group Ghana Gold Limited. In February 2023, Zongdaan Boyak Kolog commenced a legal action against the Chinese large-scale mining company, Minerals Commission, Chief of Gbane and others over the ownership of the 25-acre concession. Though the Chinese large-scale mining company obtained its mining lease in April 2019 covering an area of 16.02 square kilometers for 14 years, a mining license of 25 acres reportedly within the already leased-out area was issued to the small-scale miner in May 2020 for 5 years.

Following the grant of an application for police protection by the Bolgatanga High Court, lawyers for Earl International Group Ghana Gold Limited filed an application to the court to vacate or set aside the police protection order, arguing that the order was given on the back of an expired mining license of Nanlamtaaba Enterprise. Records and evidence available to the court show that the mining license of the plaintiff expired on 14th May, 2025 and same has not been renewed by the Minerals Commission.

Lawyers for the Chinese large-scale mining company further argued that the grant of the order for Nanlamtaaba Enterprise to carry out mining operations within the concession of the company without a valid or subsisting mining license and required permits under the Minerals and Mining Act 2006, Act 703 and same from the Environmental Protection Authority amounts to an order for protection to an illegal miner to operate.

Though lawyers for the small-scale miner disclosed that an application for renewal has been submitted to the Minerals Commission who are defendants in the matter, counsel for the Minerals Commission argued that the Commission has no record of application for renewal from Nanlamtaaba Enterprise as they stressed that the application process employed by the applicant for the renewal of his mining license over the disputed area was wrong and did not meet the stipulated guidelines for application for renewals in L.I. 2176 which mandates applicants to submit applications to the district office of the Commission and not by courier service to the Chief Executive Officer of the Minerals Commission. They further noted that Nanlamtaaba Enterprise has no mining permit and argued that mining may be undertaken in the licensed area only after a mining permit has been obtained from the Chief Inspector of Mines and shall therefore cease on the withdrawal or suspension of the permit.

However, Justice Pascal Ernest Gemadzie in his ruling on an application to set aside the order for police protection said though the mining license of Nanlamtaaba has expired, it still owns the mining license and the concession until the Minister for Lands and Natural Resources terminates same in accordance with Section 87 of Act 703. He therefore dismissed the application to set aside the order.

APPLICATION TO STAY ORDER FOR POLICE PROTECTION

Dissatisfied with the ruling of the Bolgatanga High Court, an application to stay the order pending an appeal at the Court of Appeal by Earl International Group Ghana Gold Limited was filed. This application was again dismissed by the court. Justice Ernest Pascal Gemadzie in his ruling on the stay of execution noted that the decision to grant police protection to the plaintiff to go onto the concession with or without a mining license is grounded and there is no exceptional circumstance to stay the order. At the time of filing this report, sources have confirmed that a repeat application for the stay of execution has been filed at the Court of Appeal.

THE EXECUTION OF THE ORDER AND HEIGHTENED TENSION

Weeks after the application for stay of order for police protection was dismissed, the Upper East Regional Police Command demonstrated a massive entry into the busy mining community with heavily armed police officers in large numbers in a long fleet of armored vehicles that could be equated to a presidential security convoy. In an obvious show of force in the execution of the court order, Zongdaan Boyak Kolog popularly known as Poloo was spotted by frightened residents and onlookers in the area delightfully inspecting the concession and demonstrating his readiness to resume his mining operations.

In what appears to be a simple execution of a court order, some youth of the Gbane area have expressed their strong disapproval of the return of Nanlamtaaba Enterprise in the area as they accuse the proprietor of disrespecting their Chief and Elders by dragging them to court and further preventing them from accessing their own lands by securing a court injunction. They further accused Poloo of attempting to fuel conflict in the area by recruiting and deploying youth from a rival community to work in the concession.

"You have taken our Chief to court and even said he should not come here on the land because you have an injunction against him. You again go and bring people from Namoaligo to work here when you know what is happening between, we and them. What are you trying to tell us? We are peace-loving boys of this community but we will not accept this. We respect our fathers and their advice, that is why we are still keeping quiet," a resident who identified himself as Yambezina said.

UNDERGROUND CLASHES
The execution of the court order has sparked a new wave of security and safety concerns as there have been reports of clashes in the deep underground mining area of Earl International Group Ghana Gold Limited as the small-scale miners are reportedly invading the underground mining drives to claim ownership.

Public Relations Officer of Earl Group, Albert Azongo, responding to the above on Friday July 25, 2026, said the company is heavily challenged following the orders of the court.

"We are exploring all the legal remedies available including an appeal of the order at the Court of Appeal. Presently, we have recorded instances of disturbances underground because the small-scale miners do not know the boundaries underground. They just assume every place underground is for them because there is a court order. The court order is limited to the small area of 25 acres and not the whole of our Shaft 2 and Shaft 4 as they are attempting to claim. So, these are serious issues of boundaries that have come up and would need to be addressed to bring sanity," he said in a written response.

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