Chief Justice Baffoe-Bonnie urges GIS check invasion of galamsey areas by Chinese

The Chief Justice, His Lordship Paul Baffoe-Bonnie has raised concerns over foreign nationals especially Chinese involved in galamsey, questioning how they enter the country and escape even after arrest.

During visits to the Ghana Immigration Service (GIS) and Ghana Prisons Service, the Chief Justice raised concern over the situation and other cases.

“We can’t close our eyes to the fact that the Chinese have virtually invaded the galamsey areas. There are some places you go, and the Chinese are selling accoutrements for galamsey operators. They buy the gold and all that in these areas. I know anybody who enters here has to have some kind of work permit, or whatever. Unless we talk about smuggling of Chinese to the country, these people who have come here are people whom we are supposed to know,” he stated.

With special courts set to be rolled out come Monday, he says stronger collaboration between institutions will help fast-track cases and tackle these crimes.

He said, “In my bid to tackle congestion in courts, we have decided that we are going to set up a shift court system, a dual morning and afternoon court system, where judges will sit in the morning and others sit in the afternoon. We intend to create special courts and they are going to be rolled out coming Monday. These special courts are going to deal with cybercrime, drug trafficking, human trafficking, cross-border crimes and we are not just going to be individual institutions.”

The Comptroller General of the Ghana Immigration Service, Samuel Basintale Amadu, appealed to the Chief Justice to review penalties for illegal mining.

“The galamsey is no longer only Chinese. Our West African nationals are now even the biggest challenge. And then also, they are using various means with the support of Ghanaians to acquire our citizenship. Normally, when we go to court, the fines are so minimal that they are not deterring enough. We would want to see if those penalties could be reviewed to make them punitive,” he noted.

The Chief justice also made a stop at the Ghana Prisons Service Headquarters to deliberate on how collaboration between the Judicial Service and the Ghana Prisons Service can solve the congestion in the prisons.