If we can burn excavators we can revoke licenses- Oliver Barker to Prez. Mahama
Oliver Barker-Vormawor, convener of Fix the Country movement, has called on President John Dramani Mahama and the NDC government to place a ban on the issuing of new mining licenses as part of efforts to restore and protect the environment from the impact of illegal small-scale mining (Galamsey)
Oliver Barker also asked that President Mahama revoke all 2000 mining licenses issued by the Akufo-Addo administration.
This comes after the release of data from the Ghana Mining Repository indicating that over a hundred mining-related licenses were issued in the last week of former President Akufo-Addo’s New Patriotic Party (NPP) administration.
The report showed that 102 mining licenses were issued between January 1 and January 6 2025 and a total of 103 licenses have been issued in 2025.
In a Facebook post Oliver Barker-Vormawor, expressed his disappointment in the Akuffo-Addo administration, describing the administration as the worst in Ghana’s history.
“The disaster of Nana Addo’s Regine, the worst this country has ever seen, manages to issue over 2000 mining licenses to cronies in 4 years. Including 103 after they lose election. Creating an ecological clusterfuck for this Generation and the next. And we sit down and watch?, he wrote.
He called on the president to respond by revoking the licenses and said adopting a passive approach to the issue is not appropriate.
“Just saying oh wow, and moving on, it’s not the appropriate response of a people at risk of having to import drinking water soon. The President must revoke all those licenses and put a moratorium on new licenses. If we can burn excavators we can revoke licenses”, he emphasized.
The licenses include 21 small-scale mining licenses, prospecting licenses, and mining support services licenses. This brings the total number of active licenses across the country to 2,127.
By: Janice Opoku-Agyemang
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