Attorney-General and Minister for Justice, Dr. Dominic Ayine, has announced that a new Legislative Instrument (L.I. 2501) will soon be laid before Parliament to revoke the contentious L.I. 2462, which has faced widespread criticism for permitting mining in Ghana’s forest reserves.

Speaking during President John Mahama’s engagement with Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) on the galamsey crisis in Accra on Friday, October 3, Dr. Ayine revealed that the reform is part of broader legal and regulatory measures aimed at strengthening the fight against illegal mining.

“In terms of the legal steps, the Minister for Lands and Natural Resources has underscored the fact that legal and regulatory reform is at the heart of what we are doing in order to change the narrative about illegal mining,” he said.

The Attorney-General explained that under the current Minerals and Mining Act, licences and leases can be issued across the country—including in forest reserves, territorial waters, and exclusive economic zones. He stressed that this legal loophole has made forest reserves vulnerable to exploitation.

To address the challenge, he disclosed that a new bill is being drafted to explicitly prohibit mining in all forest reserves.

“One of the things we can do is to identify all the forest reserves and put them in a schedule attached to the bill, and make it categorically clear that no licence for mining activity, or lease for the conduct of mining, can be granted in respect of all the forest reserves listed in the statute,” Dr. Ayine explained.

He added that such measures would make it politically and legally difficult for future governments to weaken environmental protections without parliamentary approval, thereby ensuring stronger safeguards.

Dr. Ayine confirmed that the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources, working in collaboration with his office, has finalized L.I. 2501, which will be presented to Parliament when the House reconvenes on October 14.

“The Minister and I have agreed that on the 14th of October, when Parliament resumes, we will lay that instrument to revoke the famous L.I. 2462. Immediately it is laid, within 21 days it matures, and from that time onwards, we will not have L.I. 2462,” he stated.

The revocation is expected to strengthen Ghana’s legal framework against galamsey and protect the country’s forest reserves from further degradation.