A lawyer and ex-military captain says President Akufo-Addo should resign in light of what has been described as a failure to win the battle against illegal mining in the country.
Jamal Tonzua Seidu explained that the constitution indicates that the President must relinquish his role in case his conduct seems to undermine the safety of citizens.
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According to him, saying illegal mining [galamsey] is a historic policy failure is a gross understatement.
“To say that galamsey is a historic policy failure is a gross understatement. Now, what I expect to see therefore is that I expect to see our President on the account of this embarrassing failure to resign in terms of what his mandate is under Article 58 of the constitution.”
“Article 69 tells us that if the conduct of the President amounts to what brings that height of disrepute or inimical to our economic welfare or wellbeing, or even undermines our security, that should be a ground for the President to be removed from office,” he said on JoyNews’ Newsfile on Saturday.
Explaining his assertions, Mr Seidu said the credentials of President Akufo-Addo before assuming office projected him as someone who could wage a war against the menace but has rather performed below expectations.
The lawyer has questioned the viability of the policies formulated to curb the situation. According to him, what he termed as the “defective formulation of the policy” was not done in ignorance but rather deliberately. To curb illegal mining issues, Mr Seidu said the government must get the framing of issues in its policies right.
Meanwhile, speaking on the show also, An Assistant Lecturer at the Mining Engineering Department of the University of Mines and Technology, (UMaT), has attributed the rampant illegal mining activities to the overwhelming hurdles that are faced when securing lands.
Bezaba Yalley said the procedures involved in securing lands are unnecessarily hectic and daunting, with some people being denied applications.
This, she says discourages even people who want to do right by the laws.
“I have gathered that in fact, the way and manner in which people actually want to do the small-scale mining are actually frustrating.
“So at the end of the day, the system itself is kind of promoting illegal mining. Someone who wants to acquire a license has to go through a whole lot of frustration. A license is supposed to be issued in about four months, the person would have to wait for about three or four years.
“Applications, even if they’re to be denied, they are to bring out some reason why those applications are to be denied or even delayed – they do not get feedback. So at the end of the day, it looks like even those who want to do things right are kind of discouraged,” she said on JoyNews’ Newsfile on Saturday.
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