Who is the rightful recipient of mining compensation for land use deprivation in Ghana?

Compensation remains a crucial precondition for the compulsory acquisition of land in many jurisdictions across the world. The compensation regime of Ghana is still characterised by uncertainties with the legislative environment. This paper focused on the determination of rightful recipients of compensation for deprivation of use introduced by the new Minerals and Mining Act, 2006 (Act 703) in Ghana. Using case study and cross-sectional approaches, expropriated farmers, chiefs, estate valuation surveyors and some officials of Newmont Ghana Gold Ltd involved in the land compensation process were interviewed. The study examined the challenges and processes followed at the Newmont Ghana Gold Ltd Akyem Mining Project, where compensation for deprivation of use of land was applied for the first time in Ghana. The study revealed that the major challenge of compensation revolved around which stakeholders were rightfully entitled to receive compensation for the deprivation of the use of land-allodial owners, usufructs, tenant farmers or sharecroppers. In the absence of any concrete legislative direction, a legislative instrument is needed to clearly define the recipients of compensation under the various possible heads of claim.