The Ghanaian press on Wednesday focuses on the signing of the Minerals and Mining Law into force by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, which has prescribed stiff punishment for illegal miners
The Daily Graphic and Ghanaian Times said that President Akufo-Addo announced at the Council of State meeting in Accra on Tuesday that the law, which was amended to tackle the menace of illegal mining, now gives the courts power to hand 15 years to 25 years to perpetrators of illegal mining.
“We have taken away some of the discretion of the judges largely because they are not cooperating on these matters. People are caught engaged in these flagrant acts; they are taken to court but granted bail. And then at the end of the day they disappear,” he told the Council of State.
The passing of the law became necessary owing to increasing activities in the various river bodies of the country, thereby threatening the ecology of the country.
In another development, the Ghanaian Times reports that the police have begun the probe into the circumstances that led to the death of two police officers at Manso Nkwanta in the Ashanti Region and Akyem Swedru in the Eastern Region.
A statement published by the newspaper on Wednesday said the Inspector General of Police (IGP) has directed that full scale investigations be conducted into the circumstances that led to the death of the General Corporal Agatha Nana Nabin and late Corporal Bernard Antwi, who were recently murdered at two different spots in the country.
DAP/GIK/APA