Private legal practitioner and law lecturer Clara Beeri Kasser-Tee has urged Ghana to adopt a depoliticised, state-led strategy in tackling illegal mining, commonly known as galamsey.
She stressed that sustainable progress can only be achieved if institutions are equipped to act effectively, regardless of which party is in power.
“It doesn’t matter whether the NDC is in power or the NPP is in power. We need a state institution that is capacitated to understand the problem from all angles and to continuously deal with it, so that we are in a better position to solve the problem in the long term,” she said on JoyNews’ Newsfile on Saturday.
Ms. Kasser-Tee dismissed suggestions that she had ever called on either former President Nana Akufo-Addo or President John Dramani Mahama to declare a state of emergency as part of the fight against galamsey.
“Right from the Nana Addo days, I never said anywhere that President Nana Akufo-Addo should declare a state of emergency. I never said that – it is insinuated that I said that. And I have never told President Mahama also to declare a state of emergency,” she clarified.
While acknowledging that illegal mining poses one of the country’s gravest national challenges, Ms. Kasser-Tee argued that resorting to a state of emergency is not the most appropriate solution.
She warned that such a move could trigger serious human rights concerns without guaranteeing lasting results.
“I understand the potentials for human rights when states of emergency are declared. I am not persuaded that that is going to necessarily solve the problem from the evidence that I have seen,” she explained.
Ms. Kasser-Tee maintained that Ghana’s best hope lies in strengthening institutions, insulating them from political influence, and ensuring they have the capacity to respond consistently to the galamsey menace.
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