President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo
The Member of Parliament (MP) for Madina Constituency, Lawyer Francis-Xavier Sosu, says the communique issued indicating President Akufo-Addo’s directive to the military to “remove all persons and logistics from Ghana’s water bodies” is not exhaustive.
According to the MP, the communication has not indicated what should be done to the “galamseyers” and their equipment beyond their interdiction.
“What details are the military working with beyond the mere directive we are privy to? Where are they sacking them to? They are committing environmental errors, but can’t they be arrested? The people behind the galamsey, if arrested, isn’t it worth it?” The private legal practitioner asked regarding persons involved.
Specifically, on the logistics, Mr. Xavier Sosu said: “They said the equipment should be removed from the water. Are they confiscating them? If confiscated, where are they going to be kept? What process are we adopting in confiscating them?”
He alleged however that because the aforementioned questions have not been addressed in the communique in addition to Government’s lack of transparency in the Operation Vanguard undertakings that resulted in the seizure of excavators which reportedly went missing, the current operation is a suspicious one.
“The military men deployed, what is their operational guidelines? This is because in the first place, there were people deployed to these areas that yielded no result. The excavators, who will be in charge of them when confiscated? How can we be sure that the excavators seized will not end up in the hands of some party functionaries? This is because it has happened before.”