Godfred Yeboah Dame
Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Godfred Yeboah Dame, has disclosed that there are some 850 accused persons currently standing trial in various courts across the country for ‘galamsey’ related offences.
He made the observation in his address as leader of the Bar at the 2024 Ghana Bar Association (GBA) annual general conference held at the Great Hall of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) on Monday, September 9, 2024.
Illegal mining (galamsey), according to the Attorney General, “continues to cause incalculable damage to our forest reserves and river bodies.”
He indicated that “in the teeth of the difficulties prosecutors encounter in the courts in the prosecution of illegal mining offences, the Criminal Division has enjoyed some success even though there is still room for more to be done.”
“From August 2021 to date, at least 76 persons, including 18 foreigners, have been convicted. They include the acclaimed Chinese galamsey queen, Aisha Huang, who was convicted on December 4, 2023, of offences committed between 2014 and 2016 in the era of the previous government.
“Most of the convicts were sentenced under the new law – Act 995 to a minimum of 15 years plus a heavy fine in the case of a Ghanaian and a minimum of 20 years plus a hefty fine for a non-Ghanaian. Currently, over 140 cases of illegal mining involving over 850 accused persons are being prosecuted in courts in the Western, Eastern, Ashanti, Greater Accra, and Upper East Regions of Ghana. Some are near the conclusion,” Mr. Dame remarked.
In his address, the Attorney General said the unsung heroes of the Office of the Attorney General are the Legislative Drafting Division. Mr. Dame said they (the Legislative Drafting Division) are that army of well-disciplined, properly-trained, meticulous lawyers whose task it is to set the legislative framework for all that the AG’s department does.
“Without them, none of the three arms of government can function. The Legislative Drafting Division has been responsible for carrying my vision of law reform in both civil and criminal aspects of the law. They have paid great attention to the public policy of the law, and have drafted in all about 60 Acts of Parliament and innumerable subsidiary legislation,” Mr. Dame stated.
A Daily Guide Report