Communities hosting mining companies in Ghana will suffer further under-development as a result of the proposed amendment of the Minerals Income Investment Fund (MIIF) Act, 2018, Act 978, the Member of Parliament for Juaben, Francis Owusu-Akyaw, has suggested.
The proposed amendment is expected to transfer 80% of Mineral Royalties, originally maintained by MIIF, to the Consolidated Fund to finance the government’s development initiatives.
Parliament in 2018, during the era of the Akufo-Addo government, passed Act 978 as amended by Minerals Income Investment Fund (Amendment) Act, 2020 (Act 1024)1(1), to maximise the value of the income due the state from its mineral wealth for the benefit of its citizens, monetise the minerals income accruing to the Republic in a beneficial, responsible, transparent, accountable and sustainable manner.
The Fund is also aimed at developing and implementing measures to reduce the budgetary exposure of the Republic to minerals income fluctuations.
However, the new John Mahama-led government, through the 2025 Budget and Policy statement, has initiated processes to further amend the piece of legislation to ensure that 80% of the royalties held by MIIF is transferred to the Consolidated Fund to finance the BIG PUSH infrastructure agenda.
In contributing to the 2025 Budget statement on the floor of Parliament on Monday, 24th March, the Juaben MP, Mr Owusu-Akyaw raised red flags over the move, emphasizing that it will deprive host communities of the much-needed development.
He explained that it is not clear what kind of infrastructure projects will be undertaken with the diverted MIIF to the Consolidated Fund.
Mr Owusu-Akyaw also expressed concern that little investment will be made by the state in mining activities, contrary to what the MIIF law envisaged.
The Juaben lawmaker indicated that the move will lead to the total neglect of host communities where actual mining takes place and whether mining communities will directly benefit from such projects.
“Is it infrastructure to develop the mining sector from which such incomes are gained in pursuit of the objectives of MIIF or just any infrastructure? How much would be reinvested into boosting mining operations if all the money goes into other infrastructure not directly related to mining? Again, there will be a total neglect of the communities where mining activities are undertaken since a huge percentage is going into unknown infrastructure development. This is too risky a path for a Government to take,” Francis Owusu-Akyaw queried.
In a related development, the Juaben MP chided the government for re-categorising mining into small, medium and large scale.
The MP alleged that most licensed small-scale miners do not have space to undertake productive mining, while those with space are engaged in “trial and error”, causing destruction to the environment.
“Mr Speaker, the solution to the menace of galamsey does not lie in recategorization. Most small-scale licences granted under Section 82 of the Minerals and Mining Act 2006 do not even have spaces to engage in productive mining.
“Also, those with spaces to mine are just engaging in ‘trial and error’ modes of alluvial gold mining, causing the destruction of the land. Again Speaker, some large-scale miners are operating in medium-scale mining already, which does not breach any law. So why spend money on re-categorization?” the MP stated.
