Open letter to Parliament: Ending illegal mining in Ghana

It is with dismay that I write to you on the vexed issue of illegal mining and our apparent helplessness as a country.

My prescription for ending the malaise is as follows:

a) Restrict or ban the importation of excavators.

b) Restrict the importation of the Shanfang.

c) Criminalise the building of a Shanfang.

d) End Visa on arrival for all Chinese, they must obtain a Visa from the Ghana Embassy in Beijing or the closest consulate.

e) Train embassy and consulate staff on strict Visa regime for China.

f) Make the Deputy Comptroller-Generals of Immigration responsible for Legal and Operations responsible for all resident and work permits for all Chinese.

g) Restrict and streamline the importation of mercury, lead and all heavy metals into Ghana.

h) Ban the importation of mercury, lead and heavy metals on our land borders and criminalise the smuggling of same.

i) Criminalise the recruitment and employment of illegal mining.

Criminalise the making of a homosexual or lesbian

Psychology and medical science will tell you that most people are not born homosexuals.

That homosexuals are made from infancy from improper sexual encounters and incidents. This applies to childhood at all levels of education.

Many of such people are abused by people close to them such as uncles, aunties, cousins, house helps and nannies. We can nip the issue in the bud by criminalising the activities of adults who abuse babies and children.

Very few people are born with homosexual and lesbian tendencies.

 Amending Article 33 (5) of the 1992 Constitution

Generally making human rights in a democratic society in the world directly applicable in Ghana should be amended by adding the dualist clause; “Subject to the approval or ratification of Parliament”.

This novel provision in our Constitution is cast in the best intentions of the framers of the Constitution but can create a constitutional crisis, because constitutions are not a one fit, as in the words of Sowah JSC (as he then was), Constitutions are “a mirror of our history, hopes and aspirations as a people” and therefore examples from elsewhere cannot have automatic application but must be subject to Parliamentary scrutiny, approval and ratification.

Speaker, please accept my compliments and my contribution to Ghanaian jurisprudence.

Cecil Adadevoh,
Chief State Attorney,
Office of the Attorney-General And Ministry Of Justice.