Story By: Akua Oteng Amponsah
Pressure Group, Democracy Hub has sued the government over plans to deport foreigners engaged in illegal small-scale mining (Galamsey) rather than prosecuting them here in Ghana.
They are seeing a declaration that the deportation of foreign nationals arrested for engaging in illegal mining without prosecution constitutes a violation of Section 99 of the Minerals and Mining Act, 2006 (Act 703), which mandates prosecution for such offences.
Also, they want a declaration that the stated policy and actions of the Minister for the Interior and the Ghana Immigration Service to deport foreign nationals without trial for galamsey offences are unlawful, ultra vires, and inconsistent with Article 19(2) of the Constitution of Ghana.
The reliefs are “A Declaration that the selective decision not to prosecute foreign nationals, while prosecuting Ghanaians for the same offences, constitutes unequal treatment before the law and violates Article 17 of the Constitution.
The Minister of the Interior, Mohammed Mubarak Muntaka, announced the decision by the government to deport the foreigners engaged in galansey.
The state-owned Graphiconline quoted Muntaka as saying that investigations by the security agencies have uncovered criminal networks involving some foreign nationals who operate in Ghana’s forests, engaging in illegal mining, cutting down trees without authorisation, and defrauding people across the world through cybercrime.
“What we found, the kind of activities that were purely destroying citizens around the world, using a system that is set up, that was so sophisticated. Many of them are into our forests. Many of them are cutting our trees unlawfully. Others are involved in galamsey activities. And many, many other crimes,” Mr Muntaka said.
“For these two crimes, when we arrest any foreigner, we are not interested in prosecuting him. Our first option is to take them back to their country. And this is something that we are very serious about,” he stated during an engagement with the Ashanti Regional Police Command in Kumasi as part of his working visit to the region last Friday, (April 4 2025).”
The government received flak from some quarters fro this decision. For instance, Civil Society activist, Dr Steve Manteaw, in a post on his Facebook page reacting to this matter, Dr Manteaw said, “I’m appalled by this lackluster performance in combating the galamsey menace. Even more annoying is the decision to deport rather than jail foreigners who offend our laws. Are Ghanaian offenders less human than those foreigners who offend our laws with impunity?
