Search
Close this search box.
GBC
GHANA WEATHER

Minerals and Mining Act, amended to give stiffer punishment to illigal miners

Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
WhatsApp
Pinterest

Parliament has amended Minerals and Mining Act, 2006 (Act 703) to increase the penalties for a person who engaged in illigal mining.

The Committee observed that the penalty regime for offences for persons who engage in illegal mining operations is being proposed to increase from the existing three thousand penalty units to ten thousand penalty units, while the corresponding minimum term of imprisonment has been pegged at a minimum of fifteen years and not more than twenty five years.

The Committee, chaired by Emmanuel Akwasi Gyamfi was of the view that “the new penalty regime is deterrent enough to make illegal mining unattractive to persons who plans to engage in such unlawful activities”.

The objective of the Bill is to amend the Minerals and Mining Act, 2006(Act 703) to increase the penalties for a person who buys or sells minerals without a licence or without a valid authority and to increase the penalties for a person who engages in illegal mining.

Clause 1 of the Bill amends section 81 of Act 703 to extend the application of section 99 to cover other forms of illegal mining in addition to illegal small scale mining.

Clause 2 amends section 99 of Act 703, sub-clauses 1-5 increase the penalty for persons, both locals and foreigners, who engage in illegal mining operations.

Sub-clauses 6 and 7 criminalise activities of persons who provide various support services to illegal miners; while sub-ciauses 8-10 provides for the seizure and disposal of equipment and product used for illegal mining operations.

The Committee mentioned that the application of the offences and penalties contained in Section 99 of the principal enactment (Act 703) which is currently limited to small scale mining has been extended to cover all forms of illegal mining.

Additionally, a person who fabricates, manufacture floating platforms or any other equipment for mining operations commits an offence when the equipment are used to do illegal mining operations.

Similarly, a person who provides or are invoived in the provision of excavators or other equipment commit an offence when the usage of such equipment contravenes a provision of this Act.

The Bill aiso criminaiises fronting for foreigners by Ghanaians.

In relation to disposal of confiscated equipment and mining  product, it was noted that the existing law does not explicitly provide for disposal of equipment and product confiscated from illegal mining operations.

As a result, confiscated items and products are often left at the police custody, normaiiy at the mercy of bad weathers.

To remedy the situation, the Minister responsible for Mining has been empowered under the Bill to allocate the coanscated equipment and products to an appropriate state institution for use and publish same in the Gazette.

According to the report, “The Committee has thoroughly deliberated on the policy objective of the proposed amendments to the principal enactment and is of the view that its promulgation into law would go a long way to address the increasing activities of illegal mining in the country and reduce its attendant repercussions.

The Committee, again is of the view that the lifting of the ban on small scale mining may engender recalcitrant persons to go back to their illegal operations and derail the efforts of the Inter-ministerial Committee on Mining and the Military Taskforce.

Background and justification for the bill

In recent times there has been an increase in illegal mining activities especially in small Scale mining which is popularly referred to as “galamsey”, along with a significant foreigners influx of foreigners into the mining venture with attendant effects on farm of lands and the pollution of a large number ofwater bodies.

The increasing patronage in the illegal mining operations is largely attributed to lesser sanctions against the perpetrators.

There is therefore the need to review the penalties for persons who engage in illegal operations to make it unattractive to persons who may wish to engage in such activities.

Story by Edzorna Francis Mensah

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

ADVERTISEMENT