The Minister for Justice and the Attorney-General, Godfred Dame, has disclosed that up to 187 illegal small-scale miners (galamseyers) have been jailed in the Eastern Region since 2017. According to him, out of the 187 illegal miners jailed, 29 were nationals of Niger, seven Nigerians and three Chinese with the remaining 148 being Ghanaians. The Attorney-General indicated that most of the ‘galamseyers’ were given a minimum fine of three thousand penalty units or an imprisonment term of not more than five years for the offence of buying or selling minerals without a licence under Section 99(1) of Act 703 of the 1992 Constitution. He also indicated that some of the illegal small-scale miners were sentenced for the offence of mining without a licence and were given a minimum fine of one thousand penalty units or an imprisonment term of not more than three years under Section 99(2) of Act 703. Also, the AG indicated that 33 persons involved in small-scale mining were convicted under the new mining laws, the Minerals and Mining (Amendment) Act, 2019 (Act 995), between August 2021 and September 2022 and are currently serving various prison terms of 15 years, 20 years and 18 years. The AG, who disclosed these details at a press briefing, added that 11 of these 33 people are offering nationals. He also indicated that his office has secured convictions for 48 new cases with only one on appeal. Dame added that 43 new cases are being trialled in courts in Koforidua with 250 other cases which involve some Chinese pending. The AG further stated that details of the prosecution of illegal miners in other regions, particularly, the Ashanti, Western and Greater-Accra Regions will soon be provided. Convictions since 2021 - New Law Thirty-three (33) of the convicted persons were convicted and sentenced under the new Minerals and Mining (Amendment) Act, 2019 (Act 995) between August 2021 and September 2022 and are currently serving various prison terms of fifteen (15) years, twenty (20) years and eighteen (18 years together with fines imposed in the various cases in which they were convicted. These include eleven (11) foreign nationals. The passage of Act 995, spearheaded by the Akufo-Addo administration in 2019, enhanced the sentences for both buying and selling minerals without a licence and undertaking a mining operation without a licence to a term of a minimum fifteen years imprisonment and maximum twenty-five years for a Ghanaian together with a fine of minimum ten thousand penalty units and not more than fifteen thousand penalty units. In the case of a non-Ghanaian, Act 995 has enhanced the punishment for the same offences to a term of a minimum twenty years imprisonment and maximum twenty-five years together with a fine of minimum one hundred thousand penalty units and not more than three hundred and fifty thousand penalty units. Dissatisfaction with sentencing in some cases Mr Dame however expressed displeasure with the decision of the Circuit Court in five (5) of the cases involving the trial of forty-seven (47) persons, which were filed before the passage of Act 995 but which were determined after the Act had come into force on 19th August 2019, to impose sentences between three years and five years on the accused persons. This, he said, is contrary to the law as Act 995 substituted the punishment regime provided for under Act 703 with a new punishment regime which increased the penalty for engaging in illegal mining operations and illegal trading in minerals. In the view of the Attorney-General, the substitution of the former section 99 of Act 703 with a new section 99 under Act 995 implied that a court of law engaged with the conduct of a case pending before it, was obliged to apply the new penalties provided for by the law rather than applying the old penalties existing under the law which was no longer in force. He indicated his resolve to resort to courts higher up the judicial architecture to ensure that the 47 accused persons serving what he considers to be softer prison terms under the old section 99 of Act 703 are punished under the new section 99 brought into being by Act 995. Only 1 appeal pending, 43 new cases involving 250 persons pending The Attorney-General indicated that of the 48 cases tried in the Eastern Region since 2017, and in respect of which convictions have been secured, only one (1) is on appeal. He is however confident about the chances of the Republic in the appeal. He also indicated that there are currently about forty (43) new cases involving the trial of about two hundred and fifty (250) persons pending at Circuit Court B, Koforidua. The 250 persons currently on trial include foreign nationals some of whom are Chinese. Cases from other regions The Attorney-General indicated that an update on the prosecution of illegal mining cases in other regions, particularly, Ashanti, Western and Greater-Accra Regions will be provided in due course. You can also watch this episode of People & Places on GhanaWeb TV: IB/DO