However, an investigation by The Fourth Estate into a worrying scramble for mining concessions in forest reserves has revealed an interesting irony on the part of Mr.
Pyne: while advocating for the public to promote environmental sustainability through tree planting, his company is involved in a business that threatens the existence of a forest reserve.
Records from the Minerals Commission reveal that just four months before nudging others to help make Ghana green, Mr Pyne's company applied for a lease to mine for gold in the Oda River Forest Reserve, located in the Ashanti Region.
However, under the law, the President has the authority to allow mining and prospecting in these forest reserves if he deems it necessary in the national interest.
Records from the Minerals Commission indicate that there was a surge in applications for mining concessions in the forest reserves from June 2022, when the LI was presented to Parliament.
Activists warn that by authorizing companies like Sam and Gyan Limited to mine in forest reserves, LI 2462 will only worsen the environmental damage caused by illegal mining in the country.
Three years after the memo raised the alarm, the EPA was pushing for the passage of LI 2462, which appears to have attracted even more interest in mining in Ghana's forest reserves.
The Fourth Estate investigations revealed that as of August 13, 2024, at least 25 companies had filed 32 applications to mine and prospect in 24 forest reserves.
The Fourth Estate's investigations show that Mr Pyne, a former Ashanti regional secretary of the NPP, is a joint shareholder and beneficial owner of Sam and Gyan Limited, incorporated in 2017.
Sam and Gyan Mining Limited has a mining lease in the Oda Forest Reserve in the Ashanti Region until 2053.
Chairman Wontumi Months before the government scrapped the guidelines that limited mining in forest reserves in November 2022, Akonta Mining Company Limited was actively felling trees and digging in the Tano Nimiri Forest Reserve and the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources declared the company's operation illegal.
Akonta Mining, which was registered in 2010 for mining and exploration applied to mine in the Tano Nimiri Forest Reserve (where it is already accused of mining illegally) on August 25, 2022.
The Minerals Commission has forwarded the company's application to the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources for possible approval.
Mr Owusu-Akyaw, The Fourth Estate established, was part of the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Small-Scale Mining which President Akufo-Addo set up to crack down on illegal mining and propose reforms for the small-scale mining sector.
The company applied for a concession in the Jimira and Jimira Extension Forest Reserves on November 9, 2022, two weeks before the LI became law, and obtained approval for a six-year mining lease, ending in 2029.
However, The Fourth Estate discovered that Unipower applied for mining leases in the forest reserves on November 25, 2022 - the day LI2462 came into force. The company currently has two active mining leases.
The DCE and organiser of NPP women The DCE for Wassa East, Emmanuel Boakye(left) & Angelina Bint Ntaama (right) are listed as part of the four beneficial owners of Essaman Mining Limited registered in July 2024 Essaman Mining Company Limited was registered as a mining company on July 3, 2024, with the ORC.
Eight days later, the company's application to prospect for gold in the 75-year-old Subri River Forest Reserve speedily moved from the Minerals Commission to the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources.
The Subri River Forest Reserve is located in the Wassa East District of the Western Region.
Ms Kyereremanteng is a presidential staffer and special aide to the Chief of Staff, Frema Osei Opare.
However, the company applied for a mining concession in the 90-year-old Bonsam Bepo Forest Reserve located at Akrodie in the Ahafo Region in December 2022, a month after LI 2462 was enacted.
That application is also awaiting possible approval from the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources.
Another noteworthy coincidence is the fact that on the very day LI 2462 came into force, two companies applied for permits to mine in forest reserves.
One of them was Unipower, owned by two Chinese nationals who are clients of the NPP parliamentary candidate for Juaben, Francis Owusu-Akyaw. On the same day, another company, Betterland Ghana Limited also applied for a lease to mine in the Draw River Forest Reserve, another GSBA.
At the time in May 2024, the civil society organization observed that the Draw River Forest Reserve was one of the least already degraded forest reserves in Ghana and risked being completely destroyed if the company was allowed to mine in it, suggestions the company rejected.
Reactions When The Fourth Estate reached the mayor of Kumasi for comment on whether he owned a company seeking to mine in the Oda Forest Reserve, he said he had done nothing wrong. "I am a Ghanaian, I have a company, and I can apply for anything that I want.
Ms Ntaama, while denying her connection to the venture, also insisted that she was not involved in mining and therefore could not own a mining company.
I don't know anybody." Solomon Gozey, who is the beneficial owner of multiple companies that have been awarded several concessions, did not respond to The Fourth Estate's calls and whatsapp message.
Minerals Commission's response One of the requirements on the Minerals Commission's website is for applicants for mining leases to indicate their political affiliation but none of the owners of the companies named in this story, including those belonging to politicians, have made these declarations.
The second part of this story will reveal the contradictions and lies fueling the interest in mining in forest reserves in Ghana.