A recent Daily Graphic report has brought gladness to the hearts of all Ghanaians who have been enormously depressed by the seeming inability of our government to end the wanton destruction of our water bodies and forest reserves by the conscienceless individuals known as galamseyers.

The report said twenty-one Ghanaians had been sentenced to a total of 340 years imprisonment by the Tarkwa Circuit Court, for carrying out galamsey in five different sites in the Western Region.

In addition to the jail terms, the court also imposed a fine of GH¢120,000 on each of the 21 convicts, making a total of GH¢2.52 million.

The convicts, who were sentenced separately in five different cases, received prison terms of between 15 and 20 years, for engaging in illegal mining, contrary to Section 99 of the Minerals and Mining (Amendment) Act, 2019 (Act 995).

They had pleaded not guilty but the court found them guilty after it held that the prosecution, spearheaded by the Attorney-General’s (A-G’s) Office in Sekondi, had proved its case beyond reasonable doubt.

Apart from being mandatorily imprisoned (as the court was obliged to do by ACT 995), each convict was additionally sentenced to five years imprisonment for “conspiracy to engage in illegal mining”. All the sentences will run concurrently.

Ten of the convicts were found guilty of mining in River Ankobra. In the first case related to River Ankobra, John Domotey and five others were arrested by a task force and handed over to the police, together with equipment which included a detector machine, shovels and pickaxes.

Their trial took place at the Tarkwa Circuit Court. It found them guilty and sentenced each of them to 15 years imprisonment with hard labour and a fine of 10,000 penalty units each. That works out to GH¢120,000 in monetary terms.

In the second case, too, five convicts were arrested while engaging in galamsey on River Ankobra. Their equipment included a mining dredge machine. They got

15 years imprisonment each with hard labour, as well as a fine of GH¢120,000 each.

The third case involved three illegal miners who were caught mining under a high-tension electricity cable in Esuoso, Tarkwa. One was arrested but two of his accomplices escaped and are still at large.

Four other convicts were caught at the Ndumfri forest reserve, near Simpa, in the Tarkwa-Nsuaem Municipality.

The prosecution told the court that those illegal miners had managed to destroy one-and-a-half acres of the forest reserve. They were each slapped with a 15-year jail term and a fine of GH¢120,000. A juvenile accomplice of theirs was referred to the Juvenile Court for trial.

In yet another case, five illegal miners who were charged with illegal mining and conspiracy to commit illegal mining were convicted and slapped with a 20-year jail term each, with hard labour, plus a fine of GH¢120,000 each.

In January 2023, the Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Mr Godfred Yeboah Dame, revealed to the Daily Graphic that a total of 727 individuals were currently standing trial across the country over their alleged involvement in illegal mining.

Most of the cases are prosecuted in the region in which the arrests were affected, the A-G said.

As part of efforts to combat the unrelenting galamsey menace, parliament passed ACT 995 in 2019 to provide stiffer punishment for those engaged in the devastating activity.

Under Section 99 of Act 995, a Ghanaian who engages in illegal mining or commands instigates or employs others to engage in illegal mining commits an offence and is liable, upon summary conviction, to a term of imprisonment of not less than 15 years and not more than 25 years. Additionally, a fine of not less than 10,000 penalty units (GH¢120,000) and not more than 15,000 penalty units (GH¢180,000) is imposed.

For any foreigner who engages in illegal mining, Act 995 lays down a term of imprisonment of not less than 20 years and not more than 25 years, or to both the term of imprisonment and a hefty fine of not less than 100,000 penalty units (GH¢1.2m) and not more than 300,000 penalty units (GH¢3.6m).

It’s been two years since Act 995 was passed into law, and the question Ghanaians should ask the Attorney-General is: why did it take so long for its full force to be applied to offenders under it? Who can fully estimate the amount of destruction that must have taken place in our country between 2019 and now?

Another question is this: If the delay in trying galamsey offenders lies with the courts, why can’t the government and the judiciary put their heads together and establish courts that deal exclusively with galamsey cases? Doesn’t the destruction caused by galamsey make it obligatory for our Government to thin out of the box and evolve a new methodology that can end the pestilence once and for all?