Ga Mantse King Tackie Teiko Tsuru II has urged mining companies to ensure that communities hosting their operations are not left worse off when mining activities come to an end.
He said mining must deliver lasting benefits while protecting livelihoods, restoring degraded land and creating sustainable opportunities for communities beyond the life of the mines.
The Ga Mantse made the call at the National Mining Dialogue 2026 in Accra, stressing that land is an inheritance and a source of livelihood that must be protected for future generations.
“Long after the mining companies, the machinery and the trucks are gone, the land and its people remain. The land must be reclaimed, and that awareness must guide our deliberations,” he said.
According to him, properly managed mining could support communities through roads, schools, hospitals, clean water, scholarships, vocational training and employment, but cautioned against pursuing short-term gains at the expense of future development.
“At the end of the day, the mine may close, but the community must not close with it. We cannot dig for today’s wealth in a manner that buries tomorrow’s future,” he said.
King Tackie Teiko Tsuru II also called for stronger accountability in local content and community development programmes, saying corporate social responsibility initiatives must be measurable and aligned with the needs of host communities.
He further urged stakeholders to examine how much value from Ghana’s mineral resources remains in the country through taxes, local ownership, wages, procurement and value addition.
He welcomed plans to adopt a Catchment Compact at the end of the dialogue and urged stakeholders to ensure that its commitments are implemented, monitored and reviewed.
“Our ancestors entrusted this land to us only for a season, and one day we must hand it over. When that day comes, we must be able to say that we used the wealth beneath our feet without destroying the inheritance above it,” he added.
