Gov’t lost the opportunity to earn our praises after failing to repeal LI 2462- Oliver-Barker
Youth Activist, Oliver Barker Vormawor has indicated that the National Democratic Congress government lost an opportunity to earn the praise of Ghanaians.
According to him, all the government should have done was to repeal the LI 2462 to earn the praise of the people.
However, they did not take advantage of the goodwill they had with the people to do what was right.
He is shocked at what motivates the kind of politics in Ghana.
Making this position known in a social media post Oliver who has hinted of a galamsey must stop demonstration said “All the NDC had to do was repeal LI 2462 as a first step of good faith. We would all have been praising them. Sometimes, I don’t really understand what motivates our politics”.
What is L.I 2462
The L.I, crafted under the guise of regulation, has emboldened a syndicate of miners, politically exposed persons, and profiteers to invade our critical forest ecosystems. Months after its passage into law in November 2022, the Minerals Commission was flooded with applications to mine in forest reserves. By August 2023 over 12 of Ghana’s protected globally significant biodiversity hotspots were already the subject of mining licences without the necessary due diligence. Even Kakam National Park, a world renowed tourism destination, and a hotspot destination for Ghanaians, was not spared attempts to mine it, until an outcry from CSOs and the general public stopped any further attempts.
L.I 2462 was passed without inclusive public engagement, a glaring violation of established legislative norms in Ghana, It grants unfettered access to mining in all the 288 forest reserves in Ghana, including production and protected forests alike. Protected forests reserves in Ghana, the globally significant biodiversity areas (GSBAs), which are some 30 forest reserves identified for their unique ecological and ecosystem provisioning and goods supplyvalue. By enabling mining in these zones, the regulation threatens not just biodiversity but Ghana’s broader environmental safety net, weakening climate resilience and exacerbating food and water insecurity.
Relentless civil society campaigns, amplified by public outrage, forced the previous Akufo-Addo administration to bow to pressure and commit to repealing LI 2462 ahead of the 2024 elections. The campaign reached a cresendo as Ghana’s largest opposition party, now the governing party, championed the cause, including it into a broader vision to reset the nation’s broken environmental and economic status.
Having won a landslide victory and given a clear mandate to revoke this obnoxious law, the government that was in full support of calls for repeal is now pursuing an agenda to amend this retrogressive L.I which is against every principle of good faith and a betrayal of the people’s trust.
