The National Democratic Congress’ (NDC) Director of Elections, Elvis Afriyie-Ankrah, has expressed disappointment in President Nana Akufo-Addo over the burning of excavators.
Mr Afriyie-Ankrah says he cannot fathom why the President will resort to such an approach when the laws are clear on what must be done to seized excavators.
Mr Afriyie-Ankrah argued there was no doubt the activities are causing damage to water bodies but the approach is unfortunate and obvious breach of the rule of law by the government.
“The law has showed us the way so why will we be acting contrary to it? We are to arrest, interrogate and prosecute persons found culpable because you can meet excavators at a site and genuinely, the owners may all not be involved in galamsey,” he said in an interview with Adom TV’s Afia Amankwa Tamakloe.
He noted that if the President is interested in instant justice against persons engaged in the illegal act, then it will be better for Ghana to return to the June 4 days.
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“We can hand it over to the assemblies to construct our roads but this burning is a complete irresponsibility and disregard for rule of law,” he added.
President Akufo-Addo, while delivering the keynote speech at the sod-cutting ceremony to mark the commencement of the construction of new premises for the Ghana School of Law on 26 May 2021, defended the government’s ‘burn-on-sight’ policy.
According to him, affected parties should seek legal redress if they believe they feel unduly shortchanged.
“I know there are some who believe that the ongoing exercise of ridding our water bodies and forest zones of harmful equipment and machinery is unlawful and, in some cases, harsh,” he said.
He said confiscating the machines as stated in the law and tracing their owners would have achieved better results.