An Appeal Court judge is urging his colleagues at the lower courts as well as other law enforcers to be abreast with Ghana’s mining laws.
Justice Dennis Adjei says many cases of alleged breach of the laws on mining end up in courts with no jurisdiction for such cases.
He was speaking at a seminar for judges and prosecutors, with support from the Ghana Chamber of Mines in Kumasi, Tuesday.
Justice Adjei wants particularly judges to examine the laws before sitting on mining-related cases.
“I made enquiry and I was told some of these offences are still put before the Circuit Courts,” he stressed.
He added, “when they are challenged at the High Court whether by appeal or ‘certiorari, ’ the High Court may set them aside’’.
Ashanti Regional Minister, John Alexander Ackon, called for concerted efforts to sanitize the mining landscape for national development.
“I call on chiefs and people of these communities to cooperate with relevant legal state actors and institutions to ensure that we rid our communities of the illegal mining that takes our precious minerals away leaving behind, poverty and environmental degradation and diseases,” he stressed.
Chief Executive of the Ghana Chamber of Mines, Sulemana Koney, dismissed suggestions the chamber is against small scale mining.
No comments:
Post a Comment