Kweku Baako Jnr is the Editor-In-Chief of the New Crusading Guide
• Kweku Baako says there is no doubt majority of Ghanaians support government's fight against galamsey
• He said that although there are people who can go to court to get redress, the same cannot apply for everyone
• He explained that there is no law that permits governments to burn excavators, hence, it is an unlawful practice
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The Editor-In-Chief of the New Crusading Guide, Abdul Malik Kweku Baako Jnr, has said that while the practice of seeking legal redress in the matter of seized excavators at mining sites that are burnt, may suffice for businesses legally sanctioned to operate, it does not make it a lawful practice.
According to the veteran journalist, what the president insists should be the practice, although the entire country is behind his fight against galamsey, is not in law.
Speaking on the Thursday, May 27, 2021, edition of Good Morning Ghana, with host, Dr. Randy Abbey, Kweku Baako Jnr explained why he disagrees with the president on this new directive.
“There is no doubt that majority of Ghanaians, if not all, rally behind government in this fight against galamsey because we all know the implications for the present as well as the future. So yes, government has our full support, including my support. But, Randy, the president’s point about ‘Go to court’, I think it’s directed, for me, those who are licensed to operate mining, those who believe you are doing the right thing, based on the legal decisions that guide mining, yes, they can go to court.
“If their rights are violated, they can go to court. So, the president’s admonition or exhortation is in order, relative to those who have the licenses to mine and yet believe they have been unfairly or unjustly treated in the context of this fight against galamsey. I don’t see any difficulty with that but Randy, before I elaborate on this, and that’s where my emphasis is, I appeal to the president and his government to also go to Parliament with the Bill to amend the law to enable them to burn the excavators.
“If you are a licensed operator and you do illegal things in your concession, the law prescribes sanctions, to the extent that even the minister can suspend or terminate your license under certain circumstances but it appears the president is not looking at it the way I’m looking at it. Respectfully, I disagree with my very good friend, the president, and in this case, we are not talking friendship – we are talking authority; presidential authority. Indeed, there is nowhere that it’s stated that burn the equipment that you seize. And so, to just go and just burn I find it difficult to reconcile because it is not found in the law,” he said.
