IMANI Africa’s Franklin Cudjoe is of the view that the Interior Minister, Mubarak Muntaka may have been influenced by the fact that a foreigner supposedly died while in custody to decide on deporting foreign nationals arrested for illegal mining in Ghana.
In a Facebook post, he acknowledged that there certainly should not be a different set of rules for dealing with Ghanaians and a different set for dealing with foreigners.
However, some developments in the past may have influenced the decision to deport them rather than prosecute and jail them in Ghana.
Which law says when foreigners are caught engaging in Galamsey they should be deported immediately? Why not jail them? We cannot have separate set of laws for Ghanaians and foreigners.
Well, you remember when the police told a judge that a Chinese illegal miner she had asked to be remanded in prison and presented in court after the weekend was said to have died ?
And when the judge asked for evidence of death and burial, she was .told by the police, that the Chinese miner was cremated and the.ashes spread over the forests.
So, perhaps this was what informed the interior minister to opt for the deportation route. Good idea??
