Galamsey: Burning of seized excavators is illegal and counterproductive – Kpebu insists

Private legal practitioner Martin Kpebu has reiterated his stance against the burning of excavators seized from illegal mining operators.

He contends that the burning of seized excavators is unlawful, extreme, and counterproductive.

Speaking on The KeyPoints with Alfred Ocansey, Kpebu emphasized that despite the practical challenges in retrieving and storing excavators, Ghana must adhere to due process.

“We’re a nation of laws,” he stated firmly on April 5.

“For as long as we have it in our laws that we shouldn’t burn, but rather we should seize them… and then when those persons are convicted, we’ll be taking [them] and giving to government agencies to help in our developmental agenda. I’m against the burning,” he stressed.

Kpebu’s remarks follow public calls by some stakeholders, including members of civil society, to destroy mining machinery found at illegal mining sites to deter further environmental damage. But Kpebu said such actions ignore the clear provisions of Act 995, Ghana’s Minerals and Mining (Amendment) Act.

“There was a reason that we said we want to take the machines and use them to help in our developmental agenda,” he said.

“So, the burning for me is extreme. Before you burn, you must exhaust all other options. I don’t think we are exhausting.”

The lawyer questioned the government’s inability to secure heavy machinery at illegal sites, attributing it to poor enforcement strategies.

“If we get some excavators and we are not able to move them, why don’t we deploy, actually even before the military—the police?” he asked.

“How many days will it take? They can guard these excavators and then you get the loaders, the payloaders to come and take them. The load beds to come and take them.”

He also cautioned against Ghana’s overreliance on the military to address what he described as a matter of internal law and order.

“We don’t want military in any small matter. You bring military. No. This is internal law and order. So how many policemen did we deploy to go and take care of the excavators? Go and keep guard until the next day.”

Kpebu said the government’s current approach appears haphazard.

“We are not assessing and doing proper analysis… Please, let’s use our laws. Because we’ve been there before, and we saw that burning is not helping us.”

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