The Minister for Lands and Natural Resources, Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah, has assured the National Concerned Small Scale Miners Association of the government’s commitment to protecting and supporting responsible small-scale mining in Ghana.
The Minister gave the assurance when the association, led by its President, Michael Peprah, paid a courtesy call on him on Wednesday, August 5, 2026, at his conference room.
Mr. Peprah commended the Minister for the roadmap introduced to reform the mining sector but also raised concerns affecting members of the association.
Among the issues were alleged harassment of small-scale miners by some security personnel, the seizure of excavators, delays in accessing excavators at the port and difficulties associated with obtaining small-scale mining licences.
In response, Mr. Buah said the National Anti-Illegal Mining Operations Secretariat (NAIMIOS) remains the institution mandated to deal with illegal mining activities.
He also outlined the government’s requirements for excavator registration, explaining that all excavators must be registered and fitted with tracking devices to strengthen monitoring and accountability within the sector.
On the licensing challenges, the Minister said the establishment of District Mining Committees was expected to help accelerate the licensing process.
He explained that the committees would conduct the necessary investigations into prospective mining concessions before submitting their recommendations to the Minerals Commission for final approval.
Mr. Buah also highlighted the government’s policy on medium-scale mining, which allows foreign investors to partner with Ghanaian companies to undertake mining operations.
Addressing concerns about the Responsible Cooperative Small-scale Mining and Environmental Project (RCOMSEP), the Minister said training programmes had already been organised for some small-scale miners.
He assured the association that government would continue engaging stakeholders to strengthen collaboration and improve the implementation of the programme.
“We remain committed to protecting legitimate small-scale mining and will continue to work with stakeholders to build a responsible, transparent and sustainable mining sector,” Mr. Buah said.
The engagement formed part of efforts by the Ministry to deepen collaboration with small-scale mining stakeholders as government pursues reforms in the sector.
