Spokesperson for Ghana Gold Board, Paa Kwesi Schandorf has explained that the government’s Responsible Cooperative Mining and Skills Development Programme is intended to bring artisanal and small-scale miners under a regulated system, as authorities seek to address the livelihood challenges that sustain illegal mining.
According to him, the controversy surrounding Ghana Gold Board Chief Executive Officer Sammy Gyamfi’s comments should be considered in the context of the government’s formalization agenda.
He said many mining communities faced limited livelihood opportunities, making it difficult for residents to abandon mining without alternative economic prospects.
“When you go to the mining communities, the problem that they face is that they do not have any active means of livelihood,” Schandorf said on TV3.
He described the attitude in some communities as one in which mining is viewed as the only available route to a better livelihood.
“And so there’s a mantra that is very popular within their jurisdiction that the way out of mining is actually mining,” he said.
Schandorf explained that the government intended to bring miners under a structured regulatory system through rCOMSDEP rather than allow them to continue operating outside the law.
“Government is now saying that, okay, we’re going to allow you to mine. But then, in doing that, we want to bring all of you under a very regulated ambit and jurisdiction. That is through the Responsible Cooperative Mining and Skills Development Programme,” he said.
He said this was the broader objective behind Gyamfi’s remarks that miners could operate outside prohibited locations, even if they did not yet have licences.
According to Schandorf, the comments were intended to communicate the possibility of bringing such miners into the formal system, not to authorise immediate mining without regulatory approval.
He stressed that the distinction between formalisation and unrestricted mining was central to understanding the government’s position.
“The actual essence and that has been contained in the explanations that have already gone out,” he said, arguing that focusing only on the phrase about mining without a licence risked obscuring the policy objective.
Schandorf maintained that miners would have to come under the programme’s regulatory oversight and obtain the necessary permission before undertaking mining activities.
He said the government’s approach was therefore aimed at creating a regulated pathway for small-scale miners while maintaining restrictions on mining in protected areas, including forest reserves and water bodies.
