The Ghanaian government is set to repeal its controversial pro-mining legislation, following weeks of demonstrations against environmentally disastrous mining, including the threat of a nationwide labor strike.

In November 2022, the government issued LI 2462, a directive allowing mining in forest reserves, including biodiversity hotspots. Mongabay previously reported on how LI 2462 threatened to exacerbate the extensive harm from mining to Ghana’s environment. According to the Ghana Institute of Foresters (GIF), mining leases were granted over about 390,000 hectares (964,000 acres), a fifth of the country’s forests, in the year following its passage.

In early October, the Coalition of Concerned Citizens Against Galamsey organized a three-day demonstration against mining. Weak enforcement and mechanization have caused the practice of small-scale illegal mining, known as galamsey, to escalate into large-scale illicit operations.

Protesters threatened a nationwide shutdown on Oct. 10. The Trades Union Congress, representing all of Ghana’s labor unions, put forward three main demands: withdraw LI 2462, declare an emergency to tackle illegal mining, and enforce stricter actions to stamp it out of forest reserves.

Union leaders called off the strike following meetings with the president and ministers. President Nana Akufo-Addo announced several measures, including rescinding LI 2462.

Gold dominates in Ghana, which is Africa’s main producer of the precious metal. The issue of contaminated water — Ghana’s galamsey have polluted many streams and rivers with harmful chemicals like mercury and cyanide — appears to have raised public concern.

Earlier this year, the Ghana Water Company Limited, the country’s main water utility, cut supplies to thousands of households because many water sources have been compromised. Some experts even warned Ghana might have to start importing drinking water.

The president’s statements reiterated that water bodies and forest reserves are “red zones” for mining and that surveying, prospecting and exploration activities are banned there.  Environmentalists cite LI 2462 as an example of the disconnect between government rhetoric on mining and the legislative changes it is pushing.

Additionally, the president passed a directive to bolster “Operation Halt,” a militarized effort against illegal mining, which includes deploying naval boats on rivers. The government is also working with the judiciary to increase the number of courts handling mining-related offenses.

Campaigners like Kyei Yamoah from the Ghana Coalition Against Galamsey, said they were disappointed by both the labor unions’ decision to call off the strike and the government’s response.

Yamoah told Mongabay that repealing LI 2462 was not enough. “Measures outlined by the government to clamp down on illegal mining are not new,” he said. “The unions should have stuck together to press home their demand through the nationwide strike.”

The ruling party introduced legislation to repeal LI 2462 in parliament on October 15.

Banner Image: A view of the anti-mining protests in early October in Accra, Ghana. Image courtesy of the Coalition of Concerned Citizens Against Galamsey.