Ban on artisanal mining in Ghana: Assessment of wellbeing, party affiliation and voting pattern of miners in Daboase, Western Region

Abstract

Governments' fear of losing presidential and parliamentary votes in mining areas in Ghana has always resulted in a reversal of policies to manage artisanal mining (currently under the New Patriotic Party [NPP] and previously, the National Democratic Congress [NDC] government). The study assessed the impact of the artisanal mining ban on miners' subjective well-being, party affiliations, voting intentions, and voting patterns in Ghana's December 2020 election. With the aid of an interview schedule, the study collected data from miners in Daboase (Ghana) and analysed it using a t-test as well as linear and binary logistic regression. Results revealed that the ban on mining significantly reduced miners' subjective well-being in terms of physical, psychological, and relational well-being more than their financial well-being. Most artisanal miners ignored the ban and continued to work, but not at the same pace; hence, the low dip in their financial well-being. Before the election, it was highly expected that artisanal miners will vote against the incumbent NPP government due to the ban. However, on election day, political affiliation and allegiance dictated voting patterns rather than the ban on mining (as NPP sympathisers voted for the government while NDC sympathisers for the NDC). The government of Ghana should, therefore, be bold in implementing its artisanal mining policies because it did not influence voting patterns during the 2020 election. However, the policies should be complemented with socio-economic interventions to help reduce their effects on miners' well-being.