Galamsey fight: Set up special court to deal with illegal miners - Lecturer

A Senior Lecturer at the Kumasi Technical University (KuTU) Dr. Collins Kankam Kwarteng has suggested the establishment of a special court to deal with offenders of illegal mining, popularly known as ‘galamsey’ in the country. According to the lecturer who is also a Marketing Expert, the government must be aggressive enough and establish a special court to ensure expeditious trial of persons involved in ‘galamsey’ practices. He said this would avoid unnecessary delays in prosecuting ‘galamsey’ cases as a means of fighting the menace. Speaking on the OTEC FM breakfast show dubbed ‘Nyansapo’ on Friday, November 4, 2022, Dr. Kankam Kwarteng said there should be a separate court that will deal exclusively with illegal mining activities, to speed up the cases. “I heard in the news that if the task force, deployed to fight against illegal mining, takes about 1000 cases to court, the court can hear 100 of the cases only and the punishment is not draconian to deter others not to do the same. I suggest there should be a separate court to deal with cases, and the punishment associated for the offenders should be strong enough to deter others from engaging in ‘galamsey’,” he said. Dr Kwarteng has therefore appealed to the Government to severely punish anyone caught engaging in illegal mining. This when done he noted, would deter the people from engaging in the act to save the water bodies and the environment. He said: “Extreme behaviour must be met with an extreme response. We are dealing with people who are determined at every point to make money without regard to human life and the environment.” "Sometimes we need to be strong on wrongdoers. We have been pampering illegal miners for far too long and this is the time for Ghana to apply harsh measures to deter them from the act,” he said.