Minister for Lands and Natural Resources Emmanuel Armah Kofi Buah has mounted a forceful defence of regulatory action against Adamus Resources, insisting that no mining company should be allowed to operate as though it is more powerful than the Ghanaian state.
Kofi Buah said the action followed regulatory findings which, according to him, raised serious concerns about mining without the required permits, alleged involvement of unauthorised operators, non-cooperation with investigations and other statutory obligations.
He made the disclosures during a strategic working visit and policy dialogue between the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources and the IMANI Centre for Policy and Education in Accra.
The engagement followed an August 10, 2026 request by IMANI for a fact-finding dialogue on the Ministry’s inherited baseline, policy direction, operational challenges, reforms and performance.
Present at the meeting were Kofi Buah, senior officials of the Ministry and representatives of agencies under it, including the Minerals Commission, Forestry Commission, Lands Commission and Ghana Geological Survey Authority.
The IMANI delegation was led by Franklin Cudjoe, Founding President and CEO of IMANI, and included Selorm Branttie, Vice President for Strategy; Kay Codjoe, writer and IMANI associate; and Ransford Brobbey, IMANI associate.
Addressing what he described as a current issue involving Adamus Resources, Kofi Buah said the Minerals Commission had an obligation to act as regulator of the mining industry and could not ignore serious breaches reported by its inspectors.
“We have a country. We have institutions. The Minerals Commission is supposed to be the policeman in the industry,” he said.
According to the Minister, concerns were first raised through a report by the Chief Inspector of Mines in the region, after which a separate team from Accra was sent to independently verify the findings.
Kofi Buah said the second assessment found the situation to be even more serious.
He alleged that some mining activities had taken place without the necessary permits and further claimed that areas had been given to persons operating illegally.
The Minister argued that if people found mining unlawfully were subsequently claimed by a licensed company as persons working on its behalf, the distinction between such activity and the illegal mining government was fighting became difficult to defend.
“If you do not have that permit, you are illegal,” he said in substance.
He added that the company had, in his account, failed to fully cooperate with committees established to investigate the matter and had not provided all information requested by regulatory authorities.
Kofi Buah argued that government could not prosecute small scale illegal miners while appearing reluctant to act when alleged breaches involved a major mining company.
“If we are prosecuting the small guys for committing some acts, everybody must respect the institutions,” he said.
The Minister also said the investigation subsequently raised broader questions beyond the original environmental and operational concerns.
He referred to issues involving taxes, royalties, annual statutory fees and financial obligations involving government institutions, although the meeting did not provide the underlying documents or detailed amounts necessary to independently establish each claim.
Kofi Buah maintained that the decisions taken by the Ministry and regulators were justified.
“As we speak today, I am convinced I made the right decisions,” he said.
He nevertheless acknowledged that institutions with lawful authority to review the Ministry’s decisions could reach a different conclusion and said government would cooperate with any such process.
The discussion, however, also produced a significant intervention from IMANI on how the dispute could proceed.
Franklin Cudjoe urged the Minister to consider offering Adamus Resources a final pathway through which the company could be shepherded by the Ministry to correct identified breaches and do what is required under any future agreement.
Cudjoe’s position was that strong regulation, and investor protection need not be mutually exclusive.
He stressed that where an investor is prepared to remedy identified breaches and comply with the law, the State should retain room for constructive engagement rather than automatically closing the door.
Cudjoe also emphasised that Ghanaian investors in the mining industry deserve the same level of institutional protection, fairness and opportunity to regularise their operations that the country would ordinarily extend to foreign investors.
The intervention placed another issue at the centre of the Adamus dispute: whether Ghana’s regulatory system can simultaneously enforce its mining laws firmly while providing predictable and equitable treatment for both local and foreign capital.
Kofi Buah responded positively to the proposal.
He said the Ministry would be willing to engage where the company demonstrated a genuine willingness to make the necessary corrections and ensure that the problems identified by regulators did not recur.
In essence, the Minister maintained the legitimacy of the regulatory action while leaving open a potential route towards compliance.
The Adamus controversy therefore presents a wider test of regulatory credibility.
If the Ministry’s allegations are supported by the underlying regulatory records, the case could demonstrate whether Ghana is prepared to apply mining laws equally to small operators and major companies.
But fairness must operate in both directions.
A company accused of regulatory breaches must be required to answer those allegations, while legitimate investors, particularly Ghanaian investors, should also be assured that enforcement will be predictable, proportionate and accompanied by a reasonable opportunity to correct remediable breaches.
The allegations remain the Minister’s account of the regulatory dispute and require a substantive response from Adamus Resources.
For the full public record, the company should be asked to respond specifically to claims concerning permits, alleged unauthorised mining activity, cooperation with regulatory investigations, taxes, royalties, statutory fees and any financial obligations cited by the Minister.
The core principle articulated by Kofi Buah was unmistakable:
A mining licence does not place a company above the regulator, and the size of an investor should not determine whether Ghana’s mining laws are enforced.
But the intervention from IMANI added an equally important qualification:
No mining company should be bigger than Ghana, but Ghana must also ensure that its regulatory power protects legitimate local investors with the same seriousness it extends to foreign capital.
Credit: Kay Codjoe
