- Those in legal redress, liquidation or bankruptcy
- Employees of the Mining Administration
- Local and national elected representatives
- State officials (members of the government, presidents of institutions)
Any natural or legal person wishing to engage in mining is required to first obtain either a mining title or an authorisation issued under the conditions set out in the Mining Code. This is specified in Article 8 of Law N°36-CNT of 26 June 2015 on the Mining Code in Burkina Faso. The same law states that certain persons are excluded from the right to hold a mining title or authorisation. This measure was included in the Mining Code in order to combat “conflicts of interest”.
While in the 2003 Mining Code, the prohibition applied to persons in receivership or bankruptcy and all agents working in the Mining Administration, this measure was strengthened with the 2015 Mining Code to help limit the economic rights of certain individuals. Indeed, according to article 99 of the 2015 Mining Code it states: “No person may obtain a mining title or authorisation under this Code if he is in legal redress, liquidation or bankruptcy. All mining administration officials, local and national elected representatives, and prominent members of the State, in particular members of the government and presidents of institutions, may not hold a mining title or benefit from an authorisation issued under this code”.
The Code states that such persons “may not hold any interest whatsoever in a mining title or authorisation”.
To better monitor the implementation of this provision, it is important to define what is meant by “any interest”.
As a reminder, an agent of the Mining Administration is someone who works in “all the departments of the public administration in charge of mines and quarries, in particular the Ministry in charge of mines and its branches”, according to the definition in the 2015 Mining Code.
E. K.
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