Godfred Dame, Attorney General and Minister of Justice
• The Minister of Justice has said that he will ensure that the US$15 million judgement debt against the country is challenged
• He said even though the time to challenge it has elapsed he will follow the procedural grounds to do so
• Godfred Dame said government’s strategy in the fight against illegal mining is the best approach
Godfred Dame, Attorney General and Minister for Justice, has said he will challenge the $15 million judgement debt awarded against the government of Ghana in the fight against illegal mining in the country.
He said even though it is difficult to explain what accounted to the new judgement debt, he explained that it came about during the work of the now-defunct Inter-Ministerial Committee tasked by president Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, in his first term, to fight illegal mining.
Speaking on Accra-based Citi TV‘s Point of View closely monitored by GhanaWeb, Mr Dame stated that, although the timeframe for appealing against the judgement debt had elapsed, he will still follow the “procedural grounds” to challenge the issue.
“Apparently, there has been some judgement debt granted against the Government of Ghana in that regard. I got to know through Randy Abbey that it had been awarded last year. The following Monday, I sought to investigate, and I found out that indeed, there had been a judgement debt of over $15 million granted, and that was in June last year, with respect to some activities by the Inter-Ministerial Committee, and at that time there was no burning at all,” he said.
“So really, the judgement debt becomes unavoidable. But even with respect to that judgement debt, even though the time for appeal has elapsed, I really intend to challenge it on procedural grounds.”
Mr Dame said the government’s current strategy in its fight against illegal mining, involving the burning of seized excavators and other mining equipment is the right way to go.
Mr. Dame explained that the government’s foremost principle in the fight is that “a person engaged in an illegality has no right [to do so].”
“So, the principle we are operating with is that no right accrues to a person who is engaged in an illegality, and that is a principle recognized by the laws of Ghana,” he said.