Member of Parliament for the Builsa South Constituency, Dr. Clement Apaak, has described as dangerous, the shoot-to-kill policy against illegal miners popularly called galamseyers.
Parliament was divided Tuesday over whether to shoot and kill people engaged in the pollution of water bodies through illegal mining and other harmful environmental practices.
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While the First Deputy Speaker, Joseph Osei-Owusu, and the Majority Leader, Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, felt the shooting would deter the continuous pollution of water bodies, the Second Deputy, Alban Bagbin, and the Minority Leader, Haruna Iddrisu, argued that shooting to kill was unconstitutional.
The First Deputy Speaker, Mr Joseph Osei-Owusu said nobody had the right to mine illegally in the country.
He said the approach used in preventing illegal mining was not yielding the needed results and added that if he had his way, he would legislate for security agencies to shoot and kill people engaged in the destruction of the environment.
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But Dr. Clement Apaak, says in as much as the process could deter others from engaging in illegal mining and destroying the environment, it will endanger the lives of citizens.
“This shoot-to-kill mantra is very dangerous and we need to do something about it. We all want our country to be in good shape but we should also know that some decisions we take may also hurt others and therefore we need to tread cautiously”, he said on Accra-based radio, Okay FM.
According to the former Presidential staffer in the John Mahama administration, any person who is caught dealing in illegal mining should be handed over to the court for proper prosecution.
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“Everyone has the right to due process and when the person is pronounced guilty then that person will be prosecuted within the law. The court is supposed to decide which punishment suits a suspect and not kill them”, he argued.
He added, however, that government needs measures that are well thought-through to help deal with the menace.
Shoot-to-kill policy dangerous – MP
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