Franklin Cudjoe, founder and president of IMANI Centre for Policy and Education, has charged the Ghana Police Service and the Office of the Attorney-General to prosecute perpetrators of galamsey instead of channeling their energies on protestors.
He has described the arrest, prosecution and onward detention of the Democracy Hub demonstrators as “disgusting and disgraceful”.
In a Facebook post, Franklin Cudjoe said those that require the effort being applied by the police towards the protestors are the persons doing illegal mining on water bodies and forest reserves.
“Please, the real matter that got us here is the mass ecological homicide superintendent by the careless political figureheads in high office. Frankly, the Police should be processing known galamsey/illegal mining kingpins and their backers in government for prosecution,” he said Thursday, September 26, 2024.
He referenced the police and the Office of the Attorney-General to Professor Kwabena “Frimpong-Boatengʻs open book of shepherds and followers of galamsey” as their first point of contact in dealing with perpetrators of illegal mining.
The IMANI-Africa president also called for the discontinuance of the detention of the protestors and asked that they be granted access to their lawyers.
“In the mean time, please discontinue the detention of the arrested protestors and hand them over to their lawyers.”
Franklin Cudjoe also noted that the treatment the suspects are being subjected to smacks of political high-handedness, advising the Inspector General of Police (IGP), not to allow himself to be tagged as such since he is not known for that.
He said the detainment of the demonstrators is akin to running a communist regime where such draconian measures are taken describing it as “inhumane and shameful”.
“Please IGP Dampare, as a friend , l know the values you stand for – pandering to political high-handedness is not one of them. Frankly, it is disgusting and disgraceful the way the protestors have been treated so far by the courts and your men.
“Yes, by all means, charge them for crimes you believe have been committed, but please do not treat them as though they were insurrectionists and terrorists planning to overthrow the Constitution.
“Apart from gestapo and communist societies where such draconian measures exist, the decision to detain the protestors beyond 48 hours to 14 days without access to lawyers is inhumane and shameful,” he stated.
Government has abandoned the fight against galamsey leaving citizens to stage a protest to draw its attention to the menace which has caused widespread environmental destruction in the country.
Civil advocacy group Democracy Hub, organised a three-day protest against the government which escalated into a clash with the police leading to the arrest of protestors, including a minor, 10-year-old, amid growing unrest over illegal mining and economic hardship.
Many have criticised the police for the manner with which they handled the protestors, with private legal practitioner, Martin Luther Kpebu, calling for the resignation of the IGP.
But, the spokesperson for the Ghana Police Service, Grace Ansah-Akrofi, indicated after the arrests that, the police picked up the demonstrators because their assembly was unlawful, and the officers’ attempt to maintain order caused the clash between them.
“The demonstrators engaged in acts of lawlessness, damaging state property and obstructing traffic,” Ansah-Akrofi told the media, adding that “they disrupted the peace. Those responsible will face justice.”
Meanwhile, the suspects have been detained into custody for two more weeks, something many have condemned and described as out of place.
Source:onuaonline.com