John Mahama
The flagbearer of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), John Mahama, has disclosed he would grant amnesty to people convicted of illegal mining, popularly called ‘galamsey’, if elected president.
The former President, speaking at a media event in Accra last Sunday, said persons convicted by the court for unlawful mining are victims of circumstances who work for ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) officials and should be pardoned.
“I will give amnesty to people imprisoned for illegal mining, popularly called ‘galamsey’ because those who are in prison for galamsey are not the actual perpetrators.
“The big kingpins are not in prison; those who are in prison are the small boys who were employed to work on their ‘galamsey’ concession,” he asserted.
Mr. Mahama stated that he would maintain the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP), explaining, “Why will I scrub the office of the Office of Special Prosecutor? I won’t. It’s an addition to our anti-corruption fight.”
The NDC flagbearer indicated that a government he leads will strengthen the OSP to make it efficient and effective to achieve the purpose for which it was established.
He was of the view that there was too much political interference in the work of the OSP, and called on those involved to desist from it.
“We need to create an environment where the Special Prosecutor can work on behalf of the people of Ghana. And so I will not scrub that office but will strengthen it to be able to investigate those who are leaving the office and have been harassing the prosecutor, and also investigate my people who fall foul of the law,” he stressed.
Touching on the Free Senior High School (FSHS) Bill, the former President said the Free SHS policy introduced by the ruling NPP would not be cancelled.
According to him, more funding will be provided to strengthen the policy in order to make it work seamlessly.
“Free SHS has come to stay and nobody can roll it back. All we are saying is that let’s improve the implementation. Let’s take away the bottlenecks; let’s abolish the track system, let’s be able to feed the children better by decentralising the school feeding in the Free SHS,” he added.
By Ebenezer K. Amponsah