President of Ghana, John Dramani Mahama, has disclosed that his government is making great strides in the fight against illegal mining.
According to him, seven out of the nine forest reserves taken over by illegal miners have been reclaimed by government in an effort to fight illegal mining and save the environment.
The president indicated that to prove the government's seriousness in the fight against illegal mining, it has introduced a legislative instrument in Parliament that takes the president's power to grant access to mining in forest reserves away. "We promised to ban illegal mining activities and ban mining in forest reserves and roll out our Tree for Life and Blue Water initiatives to heal and sustainably harness our environment.
In the first 120 days, we've taken decisive actions through a five-pronged strategy to overhaul and sanitize the mining sector.