Galamsey fight: Akufo-Addo must resign – Lawyer

Illegal mining, otherwise known as galamsey, remains one of the major problems in Ghana as the activities of these illegal miners affect waterbodies and the environment at large.

Though government has rolled out measures to help curb the activities of galamseyers, this canker keeps rearing its head up.

Speaking on this growing development, Lawyer and Public Policy Consultant, Ex-Captain Jamal Tonzua Seidu, has called for the resignation of Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo as President of the Republic.

In his view, President Akufo-Addo has performed woefully in the fight against illegal mining.

According to Mr Seidu, his call for President Akufo-Addo to resign was in line with Articles 58 and 69 of the 1992 constitution.

The legal luminary, while speaking on JoyFM's Newsfile show and monitored by GhanaWeb, said Article 69 states that if the conduct of the president amounts to what brings the high office to disrepute or is inimical to the economic welfare or even undermines the country's security should be removed from office.

"To say that galamsey is a historic policy failure is a gross understatement. Now, what I expect to see therefore is that I expect our president on account of this embarrassing failure to resign in terms of what his mandate is under Article 58 of the constitution," the Public Policy Consultant said.

"To put yourself out there to run for the high Office of the President entails a lot, especially when it is someone who touts, longs for several years of public service, someone who has held sensitive positions like the Office of the Attorney General, someone who has been foreign minister, and someone who has been touted to be a human rights activists and advocate," he stated.

Jamal Tonzua Seidu said, "When we have failures of this scale, and inconsistent with Article 58 and Article 69 of the constitution which [Article 58] requires that the president is charged with the main function of executing and maintaining the constitution and executing the laws of Ghana and on the other hand, Article 69 tells us that if the conduct of the president amounts to what brings the high office into disrepute or is inimical to our economic welfare or even undermines our security, that should be a ground for the president to be removed from office."

Background:

Nearly a week ago, a report authored by Prof. Frimpong-Boateng, the former Chairman of the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Illegal Mining (IMCIM) in 2021, was released containing the names of NPP officials who are allegedly hindering the fight against illegal mining.

Some of the known names mentioned in the report include the Minister for Information, Kojo Oppong-Nkrumah, Gabby Otchere-Darko, Laud Commey, Joseph Quam, among others. While they have denied any wrongdoing, some alleged that Frimpong-Boateng was equally at fault.

Prof Frimpong-Boateng in his 36-page report wrote that Gabby pestered him when the IMCIM was about dislodging the Imperial Heritage.

His report recalls how Gabby Otchere-Darko, a cousin of the president and an influential member of the ruling NPP, called him on phone to question his decision to order for the dislodgment of equipment of a Mining Company Imperial Heritage which Prof. Frimpong Boateng argues was mining illegally with a prospecting license in forest reserves.

“We were ready to dislodge Imperial Heritage from Kobro Forest when Mr. Gabby Asare Otchere-Darko called to inform me that he was the lawyer for Heritage Imperial Limited, a company that was destroying the Kobro and Apaprama Forest Reserves and in the process had also polluted and diverted the course of the River Offin, as can be seen in the satellite images below. I informed the President about the behaviour of Mr. Gabby Asare Otchere-Darko and he promised to deal with it.”

Gabby Asare Otchere-Darko in turn averred that the former minister had twisted the job of a lawyer to mean interference.

He has also sued Prof Frimpong-Boateng for defamation and has demanded GHȼ10m in damages.



ESA/WA