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Govt commended for revoking L.I. 2462,
A broad coalition of civil society organisations has commended the Government and Parliament for the successful revocation of Legislative Instrument (L.I.) 2462, describing the move as a landmark decision that restores hope for the protection and sustainable management of Ghana’s forest reserves.
In a joint statement issued in Accra yesterday, the groups said the revocation of the regulation, which previously allowed mining activities in forest reserves, marked one of the most significant environmental policy reversals in Ghana’s recent history.
They noted that L.I. 2462 had exposed forest reserves, including Globally Significant Biodiversity Areas, to severe risks from mining and had undermined decades of progress in sustainable forest management.
The coalition credited the repeal to the intervention of the Acting Minister for Environment, Science and Technology and Minister for Lands and Natural Resources, Mr Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah, who on October 31 laid a new Legislative Instrument before Parliament to annul L.I. 2462.
With Parliament completing the constitutionally required 21 sitting days without objection, the groups said the regulation had now effectively been revoked.
“We express our profound gratitude to the Government of Ghana and Parliament for listening to the voices of citizens and acting decisively to protect our forests and future generations,” the statement said.
The groups also applauded the media and members of the public who supported the advocacy campaign, including Ghanaians who signed petitions calling for the repeal. “Together, we have given our forests and future generations a chance. Ayekoo!” the statement added.
According to the coalition, L.I. 2462, introduced in 2022, contradicted the Forest Development Master Plan (2016–2036), which seeks to phase out mining in forest reserves by 2036, weakened forest governance, and undermined Ghana’s commitments under international agreements such as the Paris Agreement and the Convention on Biological Diversity.
They cited data indicating that before 2022, only about two per cent of gazetted production forest areas were opened to mining, with 98 per cent fully protected. Under L.I. 2462, however, about 80 per cent of forest reserves were exposed to mining pressures, leaving more than 50 out of 250 reserves under serious threat.
While welcoming the repeal, the coalition cautioned that Ghana’s forests continued to face significant threats, including illegal mining, artisanal mining and logging.
They therefore called on President John Dramani Mahama to fulfil his pledge to explicitly prohibit mining in forest reserves and to champion environmentally responsible mining practices that do not degrade forest ecosystems.
The groups further urged government to prioritise and implement a comprehensive National Forest Protection Strategy, intensify efforts to curb illegal activities in forest reserves, and ensure the effective implementation of the “Tree for Life” programme to restore degraded areas.
They also appealed to government to act on recent recommendations by the Forestry Commission, including proposals to strengthen the Commission’s capacity to respond to emerging threats to forest sustainability.
“The repeal of L.I. 2462 marks a pivotal turning point. To secure Ghana’s natural heritage and a sustainable future, commitment must now be matched with concrete action,” the statement said.
The statement was signed by 14 organisations and individuals, including the Coalition Against Galamsey–Ghana, A Rocha Ghana, Civic Response, Kasa Initiative Ghana, Ghana Institute of Foresters, Peasant Farmers Association, and the SDG Civil Platform Ghana.
By Esinam Jemima Kuatsinu
The Ghana Police Service has launched a manhunt for Prince Krah, a 30-year-old military officer, in connection with the brutal murder of a couple at Saki, near Tema Golf City.
A GH₵100,000 reward has been offered for any credible information leading to his arrest.The victims, identified as Ebenezer Kwabena Obiri, 45, and Mary Anim, 22, were discovered dead in their chamber-and-hall apartment on May 1, 2026.
According to police reports, both bodies bore multiple machete wounds. Investigators established that the suspect had been cohabiting with the couple prior to the incident.
Police records indicate that Mr. Obiri was last seen alive in the company of Krah on the night of April 30.
Following preliminary investigations, the Kpone Magistrate Court issued a warrant for the suspect’s arrest on May 4.Krah is described as being approximately 5.7 feet tall, dark in complexion, and of stout build.
He was last seen wearing a Lacoste shirt and jeans.Security intelligence suggests that Krah has gone into hiding and may be seeking refuge within the Kakusunanka area or the Kamina Barracks in Tamale.
They have urged the public to exercise caution and report any sightings of the suspect to the nearest police station or via the emergency toll-free lines 191 or 112.
By Edem Mensah-Tsotorme
The minority leader, Alexander Afenyo-Markin has called for the immediate release of former Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of National Food Buffed Stock Company, NAFCO over what he describe as extra judicial harassment.
In a statement by the minority leader, he noted that “I have become aware of the unwarranted arrest and incarceration of the former Chief Executive Officer of the National Food and Buffer Stock Company, Abdul-Wahab Hanan Aludiba and his wife, Faiza Seidu Wuni, by the Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO) yesterday, 5th May, 2026.”
Mr.Afenyo-Markins described the incident as a needless and face-saving arrest adding that “followed one year of arraignment of the two accused persons with 3 others in court on charges whose weakness and frivolity were exposed by defence counsel through objections raised and upheld by the court at the Case Management Conference held in the course of the trial.”
According to him the Attorney-General, in response to the objections raised and in a bid to boost the weak prosecution he had initiated, attempted to introduce fresh witness statements without leave of the court, contrary to the rules governing the conduct of criminal proceedings in the Republic.
He added that when an objection was raised again by defence counsel led by Mr. Godfred Yeboah Dame and same was upheld by the court, the Attorney-General’s next move was to withdraw all the charges against the accused persons.
According to him “One would have thought that EOCO would step back, conduct more thorough investigations and understand the matter before deciding whether to charge the accused persons again or not.”
“However, in an impulsive and knee-jerk reaction, EOCO re-arrested Mr. Hanan Abdul-Wahab and his wife for offences unknown to even his legal team and whisked them off to the EOCO office. Strangely, they have been refused bail and have been kept in custody since yesterday, even though they were on bail granted by the court just before the charges were withdrawn,” he added.
He further noted that Hanan’s lawyers, who were at the offices of EOCO from about 11 am until 8 pm last night, were denied access to him.
This according to the Afenyo-Markin the conduct of EOCO, the Attorney-General and the Government as a whole, in harassing and torturing these innocent citizens of the land in the manner described above, very shameful, reprehensible and most unworthy of a healthy democracy that Ghana has struggled to build the past 33 years.
He therefore added that the law enforcement processes should be deployed to deal with actual wrongdoing in accordance with due process and not utilised as a propagandist machinery for the Government by arresting and detaining leading members of the opposition as a way of purporting to give meaning to the Government’s failed ORAL promise.
“I take note that the Attorney-General held a massive press conference last year, cited the Buffer Stock case as a major example of the ORAL drive, and vilified these same accused persons as having stolen money from the State when he had not even filed any charges against them,” he added.
“EOCO’s move in rearresting the accused persons after charges had been withdrawn (after a whole year of subjecting the accused persons to unnecessary assassination of their character) is clearly a desperate attempt to save the face of the Attorney-General and sustain a false impression of a continuation of the Government’s failed ORAL promise,” he noted.
“The EOCO boss, Raymond Archer, must learn to operate in accordance with due process like his predecessors used to do. That important institution of State must not be turned into a rogue outfit for harassing and torturing innocent citizens extra judicially when the Government becomes frustrated by a failure to prove offences levelled against them in a court of law, as we have seen in the Buffer Stock,” he said.
“I call on EOCO and the Attorney-General to release Hanan Abdul-Wahab and his wife, Faiza Seidu Wuni immediately.This impunity must stop,” he concluded.
By Edem Mensah-Tsotorme
