Galamsey: Are Ghanaians less human than the foreigners? – Manteaw on govt’s decision to deport rather than jail foreigners

Civil Society activist, Dr Steve Manteaw, is livid over a decision by the Mahama administration to deport rather than jail foreigners who offend the laws of Ghana by engaging in illegal small-scale mining (Galamsey).

His comment comes at a time when the Mahama administration has decided not to waste time and resources prosecuting foreigners arrested for criminal activities in Ghana.

Rather, they will be deported, the Minister of the Interior, Mohammed Mubarak Muntaka said.

The state-owned Graphiconline quoted Muntaka as saying that  investigations by the security agencies have uncovered criminal networks involving some foreign nationals who operate in Ghana’s forests, engaging in illegal mining, cutting down trees without authorisation, and defrauding people across the world through cybercrime.

“What we found, the kind of activities that were purely destroying citizens around the world, using a system that is set up, that was so sophisticated. Many of them are into our forests. Many of them are cutting our trees unlawfully. Others are involved in galamsey activities. And many, many other crimes,” Mr Muntaka said.

“For these two crimes, when we arrest any foreigner, we are not interested in prosecuting him. Our first option is to take them back to their country. And this is something that we are very serious about,” he stated during an engagement with the Ashanti Regional Police Command in Kumasi as part of his working visit to the region last Friday, (April 4 2025),

In a post on his Facebook page reacting to this matter, Dr Manteaw said, “I’m appalled by this lackluster performance in combating the galamsey menace. Even more annoying is the decision to deport rather than jail foreigners who offend our laws. Are Ghanaian offenders less human than those foreigners who offend our laws with impunity?

“This is certainly not what Ghanaians bargained for. Mahama and the NDC should be careful not to lose the public goodwill so quickly. STILL WATCHING THE SPACE.”

Source: 3news.com