Abdul Malik Kweku Baako, Editor-in-Chief of the New Crusading Guide, disagrees with President Akuffo Addo’s explanation for burning excavators as a deterrent for ‘Galamsey’ perpetrators.
“I am not a supporter of excavators being set on fire. If the administration decides that all the rules are ineffectual and that the best method to create a disincentive or deterrence is to burn the excavators, a bill must be introduced in Parliament,” he said.
Abdul Malik Kweku Baako was speaking on JoyNews’ Newsfile on Saturday about the government’s instruction to burn excavators found at mining sites, particularly near water bodies.
“I’ve searched fruitlessly for a provision; whether in the Acts or in the regulations, any provision that actually enables the burning of excavators and other mining equipment and I don’t see it“, Abdul Malik emphasised.
President Akufo-Addo at the sod-cutting ceremony for the construction of phase one of the Law Village Project of the Ghana School of Law, on May 26, 2021, justified the burning of the excavators.
The President said, he disagreed with assertions by some Ghanaians that the ongoing exercise of ridding water bodies and forest zones of harmful equipment and machinery is unlawful and, in some cases, harsh. He, therefore, charged persons who wish to challenge the decision of the government to proceed to court.
