Fighting the Galamsey Menace: My opinion

Section 20 of Act 29 provides as follows:

20. Abetment of a criminal offence:

(1)” Every person who, directly or indirectly, instigates, commands, counsels, procures, solicits, or in any manner purposely aids, facilitates, encourages, or promotes, whether by his act or presence or otherwise, and every person who does any act for the purpose of aiding, facilitating, encouraging or promoting the commission of a crime by any other person, whether known or unknown, certain or uncertain, is guilty of abetting that crime, and of abetting the other person in respect of that crime.

(2) Every person who abets a crime shall, if the crime is actually committed in pursuance or during the continuance of the abetment, be deemed guilty of that crime.

(3) Every person who abets a crime shall, if the crime is not actually committed, be punishable as follows, that is to say—

(a) Where the crime abetted was punishable by death the abettor shall be liable to imprisonment for life; and

(b) In any other case, the abettor shall be punishable in the same manner as if the crime had been actually committed in pursuance of the abetment.

(4) An abettor may be tried before, with, or after a person abetted, although the person abetted is dead or is otherwise not amenable to justice.

(5) An abettor may be tried before, with, or after any other abettor, whether he and such other abettor abetted each other in respect of the crime or not, and whether they abetted the same or different parts of the crime.

(6) An abettor shall have the benefit of any matter of exemption, justification, or extenuation to which he is entitled under this Code, notwithstanding that the person abetted or any other abettor is not entitled to the like benefit.

(7) Every person who, within the jurisdiction of the Courts, abets the doing beyond the jurisdiction of an act which, if done within the jurisdiction, would be a crime, shall be punishable as if he had abetted that crime”.

Section 22 of Act 29 also provides as follows:

Section 22—Duty to Prevent Felony.

“Every person who, knowing that a person designs to commit or is committing a felony, fails to use all reasonable means to prevent the commission or completing thereof, is guilty of a misdemeanour.”

It is important to state, that an abettor can be charged even if the person he abetted has not been charged, is dead, has not been arrested, or is not within the country. All that the prosecution must prove is that the one abetted either committed the offence or attempted to commit the offence.

The offence of duty to prevent felonies is like a civic duty imposed on citizens to help in the prevention of criminal offences.

5. Any public officer who fails to do due diligence before approving or issuing any mining permit should be dismissed or interdicted and also charged for abetment of a crime.

6. The real owners of these galamsey sites should be arrested and prosecuted. Their identities can be verified from their documents at the Minerals and Mining Commission and or at the Office of the Registrar of Companies. Some of them may not be in physical possession of these sites.

However, constructive possession is as good as physical possession in legal terms. Those who obtained the grant of their sites directly from Stools/Skins, Families, Clans or individuals, etc. without any proper documentation can be traced through investigations and arrested and charged as well.

7. All Regional Ministers in the various regions where galamsey activities are carried out are to assist, the various District/Municipal/Metropolitan Chief Executives who are affected by galamsey activities to curb same. If any Regional Minister in any of these galamsey areas fails to assist the affected MMDCE to stop it within six months, he/she should be dismissed and prosecuted as well for abetment of offence or failing to prevent felony in respect of the galamsey activities.

8. Chiefs/Clan heads, family heads/individuals/companies, etc are to be warned seriously not to give out their lands for galamsey activities. If the advice is not taken, such a Chief, head of a family, or the individual involved should be charged for abetment of crime in relation to the Galamsey activities as I have above. This is because; there is no ownerless land in Ghana. A land may be owned by a Stool, Skin, Clan, family, individual, company, State, etc.

Land as defined under section 281 of the Land Act, 2020 (Act 1036) includes “the solid surface of the earth, trees, plant, crops, and other vegetation, a part of the earth surface covered by water, any house, building or structure whatsoever, and any interest or right in, to or over immovable property”.

9. There can never be any galamsey activity on a particular land without the Knowledge, consent, and, or concurrence of the owner of the land. Therefore, any Land owner who gives out a portion of his/her land for galamsey activity should be charged for abetment of crime.

10. A special unit of the Attorney-General Department should be created in all the regions where galamsey activities take place. This special office should be headed by a State Attorney, not below the rank of a Principal State Attorney. The office is to prosecute all cases on galamsey activities expeditiously. The prosecutions of such cases are to commence within seven days after the arrest of the suspect. Such trials should proceed from day to day until their conclusion.

11. All applications for confiscation or forfeiture of any equipment seized at the galamsey site are to be made by State Attorneys in charge of the special unit to the appropriate court with jurisdiction within 14 days after the seizure of the equipment but with notice to the legal owner of the equipment.

12. Special accounts should be opened at National Investment Bank Ltd., Agricultural Development Bank, and GCB Bank Plc. in which proceeds of all sales of equipment seized at galamsey sites and all fines imposed on convicted persons if any should be paid.

13. Copies of receipts of payment in respect of the confiscated equipment or fines should be given to the State Attorneys who head the special units in the respective regions. The Registrar of the court which gave the order and the Auctioneer who conducted the auction in cases of forfeiture of equipment should also be given copies for reconciliation purposes.

14. Part of the proceeds from the confiscated and auctioned excavators and other equipment used for galamsey could be used for reclamation of the affected areas.

15. Hearing of cases on galamsey activities should be telecast live on GTV, GBC Radio, any private television or radio station that wants to broadcast it, as well as any social media platform that wants to broadcast the proceedings. This in itself would serve as a deterrent to others.

Conclusion:

I hope that if the above steps are taken, the galamsey menace will be reduced drastically, if not solved completely without much cost to the country.

Note:

My opinion on expeditious trial of cases can be considered together with the above views to achieve the best results.