The Executive Director of the Institute for Energy Policies and Research and New Patriotic Party (NPP) communicator, Kwadwo Nsafoah Poku, has blamed Ghana’s persistent failure in tackling illegal mining (galamsey) on the country’s weak judicial system.
Speaking on JoyNews’ Newsfile on Saturday, September 27, Mr Poku argued that arrests of illegal miners are rendered meaningless because offenders rarely face deterrent punishment.
“The biggest problem underneath all these things is weak judicial infrastructure. A weak judicial system makes it difficult for offenders to be punished. We’ve had reports of 1,500 people being arrested. Where are they? In the mining communities, they don’t care. You arrest them today, they get bail tomorrow, and the following day they go back to work. So arrest is an ordinary thing,” he said.
Mr Poku proposed that Ghana must urgently reform its laws to target landowners and excavator owners, whom he described as complicit in galamsey operations.
“Bring out a law that incriminates the owner of the land that is used for galamsey. Bring out a law that incriminates the owner of an excavator,” he recommended.
He stressed that while small-scale mining has existed for more than a century, the introduction of heavy machinery has dramatically worsened environmental destruction.
“The aggravated problems we see today are largely because of mechanised mining with huge excavators. If the rich guy who has money to buy an excavator is criminalised, it will make a difference,” he added.
Mr Poku further argued that many landowners knowingly allow illegal mining on their property, making them part of the problem.
“You and I cannot just enter someone’s farm and start farming without permission. So how can people enter a land and begin excavating without the owner knowing? The owners of the land are complicit. The owners of the excavators are complicit,” he stressed.
He also cited partisan politics as a major stumbling block, accusing both the NPP and NDC of undermining each other’s anti-galamsey efforts for political gain.
“The fundamental problem of this galamsey fight is the NPP and NDC. When one party said, ‘I will put my presidency on it,’ the other did the opposite. And today, after nine months in power, nothing has been done,” he said.
Mr Poku’s comments add to growing calls for a non-partisan, systemic approach to tackling galamsey, which continues to devastate Ghana’s water bodies, forests, and farmlands despite repeated government crackdowns.
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