The Minister for Lands and Natural Resources, Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah, has challenged the media to intensify investigative, specialised and data-driven journalism to ensure greater transparency and accountability in the management of Ghana’s natural resources.
According to him, journalists had a critical responsibility to scrutinise the activities of government institutions, mining companies, regulators, traditional authorities and other actors in the extractive sector to ensure that the country’s mineral and environmental resources were managed in the national interest.
The minister whose speech was read on his behalf at the 2026 Western Region Ghana Journalists Association (GJA) Awards ceremony on Saturday, said the media must neither position itself as an enemy of government and industry nor become a mouthpiece for them.
“The media must, therefore, not see itself as an enemy of government or industry. Neither should it become a mouthpiece for them,” he said.According to him, the media’s role was to remain an independent watchdog and a credible bridge between institutions and the Ghanaian public.
“Where government succeeds, the media should report it. Where government fails, the media should question it. Where mining companies operate responsibly, that should be acknowledged. Where they violate the law or environmental standards, the public deserves to know,” he added.
Natural resources: blessing or curse
Mr Armah-Kofi Buah said Ghana’s vast deposits of gold, bauxite, manganese and lithium, together with its forests, rivers, wetlands and other ecological assets, provided an important foundation for national development.However, he cautioned that the mere abundance of natural resources could not guarantee prosperity.
He said the difference between resources becoming a blessing or a curse depended largely on how they were governed, managed and utilised.He identified transparency, accountability, responsible extraction, environmental protection, equitable benefit-sharing and effective enforcement of laws as essential pillars of sound natural-resource governance.
It was in this regard, he said, that the media had become indispensable to the work of the Ministry and other institutions responsible for managing the country’s resources.
The Minister said Ghana needed more journalists with specialised knowledge of the extractive sector, particularly in mining, geology, environmental science, economics, law, finance and public policy.
He urged media houses and editors to invest in training and resources to enable journalists to properly interrogate complex issues such as mining contracts, environmental impact assessments, production figures, royalty payments, licensing arrangements and public revenues.
“Natural-resource reporting requires knowledge of mining, geology, environmental science, economics, law, finance and public policy,” he said.He said journalists should also make greater use of data to identify trends, inconsistencies and issues requiring further investigation.
According to him, Ghana generates significant volumes of information on mining licences, production, royalties, exports, environmental compliance and public revenues, providing opportunities for journalists to use data to deepen public understanding of the sector.
Galamsey fight
Mr Armah-Kofi Buah also urged the media to maintain its focus on illegal mining, popularly known as galamsey, describing the menace as more than an environmental problem.
He said illegal mining was simultaneously an economic, social, governance and national-security issue, with the destruction of forests, pollution of water bodies, degradation of farmlands and use of harmful chemicals imposing enormous costs on the country.
He challenged journalists to expose not only illegal mining activities, but also the networks that facilitate them.However, he cautioned against sensational reporting, stressing the need for journalists to verify information and distinguish between facts, allegations and opinions.
He said responsible journalism must also report the solutions being deployed to address the problem, including reclamation programmes, alternative livelihood initiatives, responsible mining practices, technological innovations, community participation and regulatory reforms.
Give mining communities a voice
The Minister further urged the media to give greater attention to the concerns of communities that host mining operations.He said mining communities were often the first to experience both the benefits and negative consequences of mineral extraction.
Issues relating to land acquisition, compensation, employment, environmental degradation and social development, he said, must therefore form part of sustained public-interest reporting.
He encouraged journalists to give chiefs, farmers, young people, women, traditional authorities and community organisations platforms to contribute to the national debate on natural-resource governance.
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