The Institute of Financial and Economic Journalists (IFEJ) and the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources have agreed to work towards a formal partnership to strengthen specialised reporting on mining, forestry and land reforms in Ghana.
The agreement followed a courtesy call on the Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, Mr Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah, in Accra by an IFEJ delegation led by its President, Mr Roger Agambire Agana.
The delegation also included Mr Bernard Yaw Ashiadey and Mr Rayborn Bullay.
Mr Agana called on the ministry to support training programmes and technical briefings for journalists.
He said IFEJ was ready to help communicate the ministry’s policies to the public and prepare communities for the drive towards local value addition in the minerals sector.
Mr Ashiadey proposed the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the ministry, an annual conference on mining and natural resource governance, and joint research and publications with technical input from the ministry.
He also called for closer collaboration with the ministry’s agencies and proposed visits by IFEJ members to degraded lands undergoing reclamation to enable them to report on both the environmental damage and ongoing restoration efforts.
Welcoming the proposals, Mr Buah agreed to a half-day workshop at which he and the heads of the ministry’s agencies would brief IFEJ members on sector policies and reforms.
He observed that general media coverage often failed to capture the substance of policies in the sector, stressing the need for specialised journalists to explain them accurately to the public.
On mining, Mr Buah said Cabinet had approved a new mining policy to replace the 2014 framework, while a new mining law before Parliament would require mining companies to enter into community mining agreements.
Under the proposed arrangements, companies would be required to commit in writing to development priorities identified by their host communities, including schools, roads and training, throughout the life of a mine.
“It’s not a charity. It’s not corporate social responsibility,” he said.
Mr Buah said the proposed reforms would reduce the duration of mining leases from 30 years to 20 years, after which the state would decide whether to renew them or introduce Ghanaian partners.
He added that holders of reconnaissance licences who failed to demonstrate expenditure on exploration after five years would lose their licences.
A new medium-scale mining category would also be introduced to provide Ghanaian small-scale operators with an opportunity to expand their operations.
On forestry, the minister said 44 forest reserves had been destroyed in recent years, leaving about 13,000 football fields’ worth of degraded land.
He said the state had regained full control of the affected reserves, while the ministry’s Tree for Life initiative was supporting reclamation and replanting efforts.
The initiative, he explained, involved school children and attracted private sector support to help bridge funding gaps.
Mr Buah further said the ministry was deploying technology to reform land administration and make land-related services more accessible.
The proposed partnership will begin with the half-day workshop, after which
IFEJ members are expected to engage directly with the ministry’s agencies.
BY TIMES REPORTER
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