Chiefs mitigating illegal mining as custodians of the land in Ghana

Ghana encompasses a hybrid system of formal rules versus customary institutions of chieftaincy as part of promoting local governance. That is the Double Governance System (DGS), which empowers chiefs by their own discretion to face complex societal problems. The system imposes duties and oblige chieftaincy to protect the environment as custodians of the land in accordance with Article 270 of the 1992 constitution and the Chieftaincy Act (2008, Act 759). It outlines how these institutions are established in Ghanaian communities and durable. Contrary, various research has uncovered how Artisanal and Small-Scale Mining (ASM) has impacted Ghana’s environment, destroying water bodies and the land under the custody of chiefs, exposing how relevant chieftaincy institutions are to mitigate illegal mining in Ghana’s DGS. Exploring these gaps, the research employed a qualitative method to uncover how the chiefs understand environmental sustainability in relation to the factors regulating ASM, and customary chieftaincy tools that seem appropriate to halt illegal mining. Through analytical lenses of Logic of Consequences, Logic of Enforcement incorporating Logic of Deterrent, Logic of Appropriateness and the governance theory analysed findings from secondary and primary data collected from 18 participates. Generally, the research uncovered the dilemma in Ghana’s DGS that the Logic of Enforcement and the Logic of Appropriateness are not functioning as expected, there are limited tools as limited statehood enforcing the protection of custody of the land, either social pressure enough to press actors. It also found that maintaining a right balance in the trade-off between conservation and income depends on chieftaincy institutions.