Former Environment Minister Prof Frimpong-Boateng says Ghana's mining licensing system has become inverted, making it easier to obtain mining concessions unlawfully than lawfully. He attributed the problem to alleged capture of land-use planning and state authority by politicians, traditional leaders, and security personnel.
6 September 2026 · Joy Online →
Professor Kwabena Frimpong-Boateng has proposed establishing a statutory Environmental Restoration Fund financed by a defined share of mineral royalties to reclaim mining-degraded lands and restore polluted water bodies, managed independently outside Ghana's regular budget cycle to prevent diversion during fiscal difficulties.
6 September 2026 · Joy Online →
Former Minister Prof Kwabena Frimpong-Boateng described corruption as a deadly social disease whose diversion of public resources deprives citizens of essential services including healthcare, clean water and environmental protection, resulting in illness, disability and premature death. He argued that Ghana's environmental mismanagement is driven mainly by corruption and limited technological capacity.
6 September 2026 · Joy Online →
The Chief of Akyem Essase has declared that no illegal mining operation will operate within his traditional area and warned fellow chiefs against trading their communities' natural resources for mining royalties. He stated that chiefs are custodians of land and environmental regulators, and that customary rules and taboos historically protected forests, rivers and natural resources by connecting spiritual authority with environmental discipline.
6 September 2026 · Joy Online →
Baffour K.S. Sikabede, Chief of Akyem Essase, has called on government and its agencies to consult and adequately resource traditional authorities before granting mining concessions on stool lands, rather than engaging them only after environmental damage occurs. He argued that traditional rulers are among the oldest environmental regulators in Ghana and have historically used customary rules and taboos to protect natural resources.
6 September 2026 · Joy Online →
The Chief of Akyem Essase has urged traditional leaders to reject mining activities threatening rivers and forests, and to protect natural resources for future generations instead of accepting mining royalties. He argued that chiefs, as custodians of stool lands and traditional environmental guardians, should draw on pre-colonial taboo systems that treated natural resources with spiritual respect.
6 September 2026 · Joy Online →
The University of Education, Winneba held its Fourth Annual Colloquium examining Ghana's environmental challenges and governance failures. Former Environment Minister Prof. Kwabena Frimpong-Boateng said Ghana's inability to manage its environment stems from corruption and inadequate technological capacity.
6 September 2026 · Joy Online →
Former Environment Minister Professor Kwabena Frimpong-Boateng has attributed Ghana's environmental crisis to a political system where officials who enforce environmental laws face political consequences while those who fail to act face little or no cost. He said this imbalance has weakened efforts to combat illegal mining despite its damage to rivers, forests and farmlands.
6 September 2026 · Joy Online →
Former Environment Minister Prof Frimpong-Boateng claims that Ghana's rivers began recovering during a 2017–2018 moratorium on artisanal and small-scale mining, with the Pra River running clear and fishermen catching fish in previously "dead" waters, but safeguards introduced to sustain these gains were later abandoned.
6 September 2026 · Joy Online →
Prof Kwabena Frimpong-Boateng, former Minister for Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation, has proposed that public officials who approve development projects in protected wetlands, watercourses, drainage channels and forest reserves face personal criminal liability. He argued that Ghana's current system shields individual officials from accountability by treating unlawful permits as institutional decisions rather than personal ones.
6 September 2026 · Joy Online →
Former Environment Minister Prof Kwabena Frimpong-Boateng says Ghana requires an estimated $21 billion to reclaim and restore approximately 23,853 square kilometres of degraded land, largely from illegal mining and other destructive activities. Restoring the Ankobra River alone is estimated to cost about $400 million, not including rehabilitation of other polluted water bodies.
6 September 2026 · Joy Online →