Ministry of Mines and Mineral Resources

The Ministry of Mines and Mineral Resources (MMMR) is the key player in the entire extractives sector and is responsible for designing and enforcing legislation, policy formulation and application, and approval of mining licenses. With the launch of the National Minerals Agency (NMA) in March 2013, the MMMR shifted its responsibility to implement minerals legislation and policy to the NMA. However, as the MMMR's functions and actions overlap with other institutions as the NMA, Minerals Advisory Board and the Environmental Protection Agency, the mandate of the Ministry is not yet clearly defined.

=Organisation=

The Minister of Mineral Resources, as head of the MMMR, is the direct representative of the President of Sierra Leone and assisted by the Deputy Minister. According to the homepage of the MMMR, the Ministry is divided into three main sections:


 * Administration, which is headed by the Permanent Secretary
 * Mines Division, which is headed by the Director of Mines
 * Geological Survey Division, which is headed by the Director of Geological Survey

However, since the launch of the NMA, both the Geological Survey Directorate and the Mines Directorate have moved over to the new agency.

=Administration=

The head of the Ministry’s administration is the Permanent Secretary. The office holder is responsible for the coordination and monitoring of the Ministry and ensures that policies emanating from the government are effectively implemented.

Current office holders
As of October 2013, the following positions are held by:


 * Minister of Mineral Resources: Alhaji Minkailu Mansaray
 * Deputy Minister of Mineral Resources: Mr. Abdul Ignosi Koroma
 * Permanent Secretary: Mrs. Fatmata S. Mustapha

=Review of responsibilities and organisation=

According to a World Bank report by Fanthorpe and Gabelle, there is a need to review and agree on the mission, mandate, responsibilities and staffing requirements of the MMMR in light of the divested responsibilities to the NMA. This is, firstly, because the Ministry's functions overlap with other institutions. For instance, the current legislation is unclear, and often conflicted, over the division of institutional authority and responsibility in the licensing process. Here the functions of the MMMR, EPA, Minerals Advisory Board (MAB), and the NMA overlap.

Further, the position and functions of some key office holders are not clearly defined. For instance, while the the NMA Act of 2012 states that the Directors of Mines and Mineral Survey are now functionaries of the NMA, as of March 2012, the Directors of Mines and Geological Survey still worked in the Ministry of Mines and Mineral Resources.

=References=