Specialised Financial Courts will soon be established to deal with infractions in the Auditor General’s Annual Report, prosecute persons engaged in illegal mining (galamsey) and other environment-related crimes.
President John Dramani Mahama announced at the end of a meeting with the Acting Chief Justice Paul Baffoe-Bonnie, Attorney General and Minister for Justice Dr Dominic Ayine and the Auditor General Johnson Akuamoah Asiedu.
A statement issued by the Presidency said the meeting recommended that the specialised courts would hold circuit adjudications across the country.
In addition, the Auditor General will in line with Article 187(7)(b) of the Constitution, continue to “disallow” illegal expenditures and “surcharge” the persons responsible for them.
Present at the meeting were Supreme Court Judge Justice Gabriel Pwamang, Judicial Secretary Musah Ahmed, Chief of Staff Julius Debrah, Legal Counsel to the President Marietta Brew, Presidential Advisor Joyce Bawah Mogtari, and the Minister of State for Government Communications and Presidential Spokesperson Felix Kwakye Ofosu.
Galamsey presents severe environmental challenges in Ghana, including water pollution and land degradation.
Section 99 of the Minerals and Mining (Amendment) Act, 2019 (Act 995) provides that a Ghanaian engaged in illegal mining, or one who commands, instigates or employs others to engage in illegal mining commits an offence and is liable, upon summary conviction, to a fine of not less than 10,000 penalty units (GH¢120,000) and not more than 15,000 penalty units (GH¢180,000) and to a term of imprisonment of not less than 15 years and not more than 25 years.
For a foreigner engaged in illegal mining, Act 995 stipulates a fine of not less than 100,000 penalty units (GH¢1.2 million) and not more than 300,000 penalty units (GH¢3.6 million) and a term of imprisonment of not less 20 years and not more than 25 years, or both the fine and the term of imprisonment.
While many, including foreigners, have been arrested over the years for engaging in illegal mining in contravention of Act 995, just a handful of such people have been successfully prosecuted.
