{"id":107729,"date":"2025-12-20T12:03:18","date_gmt":"2025-12-20T12:03:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/?p=107729"},"modified":"2025-12-20T12:03:18","modified_gmt":"2025-12-20T12:03:18","slug":"cpps-ghanamannti-slams-l-i-revocation-on-illegal-mining","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/?p=107729","title":{"rendered":"CPP\u2019s Ghanamannti slams L.I. revocation on illegal mining"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Former Convention People\u2019s Party (CPP) running mate, Wayoe Ghanamannti Esq., has criticised the decision to revoke the Legislative Instrument (L.I.) on illegal mining, saying it does little to address the real damage caused by galamsey and risks endangering the future of the country.<\/p>\n

Speaking on Prime Insight on Joy Prime, Mr Ghanamannti said the fight against illegal mining has reached a critical stage but accused civil society organisations (CSOs) of losing momentum after initially taking a strong public stance.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe fight against galamsey is becoming critical. From what I\u2019ve seen, the CSOs made a lot of noise after they went to the Jubilee House for a meeting. All of them have gone quiet.\u201d<\/p>\n

He described what he called growing hypocrisy in the country\u2019s democratic practice, arguing that strong words are often not matched with firm action.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe think we are democratic, but the hypocrisy is too much,\u201d he stated.<\/p>\n

He said if illegal mining is truly considered an existential threat, then tougher measures must be taken. He warned that galamsey poses serious dangers to public health and the environment.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you say that galamsey is existential, it is a danger to the citizens of this country. People are being deformed, newborns are being affected, and our waters are getting damaged. Somebody must be held responsible.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to him, revoking the L.I. does not address the core problem of environmental destruction.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe L.I. does not purify the waters,\u201d he said. \u201cThe L.I. is not going to remove the contaminated nature of the soil.\u201d<\/p>\n

He warned that polluted land could remain unusable for decades. \u201cWe are being told that when the soil gets contaminated, it\u2019s going to take about 50, 60, 70 years to recover. By that time, you and I will be gone.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ghanamannti argued that Ghana is \u201cjoking with the future of this country\u201d by treating galamsey as a political issue rather than a national emergency. He said the only meaningful response is for the President to declare a state of emergency in affected areas.<\/p>\n

\u201cJohn Mahama is the one to call for a state of emergency and halt the activity. When you call a state of emergency, you put the country on red alert. It means you can properly deploy the military.\u201d<\/p>\n

He criticised CSOs who initially called for a state of emergency but later retreated from that position.<\/p>\n

\u201cEverybody was saying, \u2018Let\u2019s call a state of emergency,\u2019 and all of a sudden, they are chickening out. As for me, my constitutional duty under Article 41 as a citizen means I won\u2019t chicken out.\u201d<\/p>\n

Drawing comparisons with Singapore, Ghanamannti said firm leadership and tough enforcement are sometimes necessary to change behaviour.<\/p>\n

\u201cHuman beings as we are, sometimes we want force. That is why when leaders take hard measures, we later applaud them.\u201d<\/p>\n

He cited Singapore\u2019s strict laws against public spitting as an example of how discipline was enforced through decisive action.<\/p>\n

\u201cSingaporeans used to spit everywhere. They don\u2019t do that today because strong measures were taken. It was filthy, and leadership dealt with it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mr Ghanamannti insisted that only a state of emergency would draw clear red lines and deter illegal miners.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen Ghanaians know there is a state of emergency in specific areas, trust me, they won\u2019t go there,\u201d he said. \u201cBut with these laws we revoke, people will still go there. DCEs and MCEs are still involved.\u201d<\/p>\n

He said that his argument is not about personalities but about constitutional responsibility.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not about the person sitting there. It\u2019s about the laws.\u201d<\/p>\n

He referenced Article 69 of the Constitution, which provides grounds for the removal of a president whose conduct is deemed harmful to the state.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Constitution says there shall be a president who is head of state and commander-in-chief. It doesn\u2019t mention names. Anybody who occupies that position must act.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mr Ghanamannti questioned why Article 69 is rarely enforced if Ghana claims to be a constitutional democracy. \u201cIf we say we are constitutionalists and we have Article 69, why are we not giving a premium to it?\u201d he asked.<\/p>\n

He also criticised the Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin, accusing him of failing to act on a notice he submitted.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith all due respect, Alban Bagbin is one of the democratic hypocrites. He uses the same Constitution in Parliament, quotes Scripture, but when it comes to proper action, he is not doing it.\u201d<\/p>\n

He clarified that his submission was a notice, not a petition, and said the Speaker has no authority to withhold it. \u201cThe Constitution is clear. When I bring a notice under Article 69, send it to the Chief Justice. The Speaker cannot hold on to it.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to him, the Chief Justice must then set up a panel to determine whether there is a prima facie case.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf the Chief Justice says there is no prima facie case, I\u2019ll be excited,\u201d he said. \u201cThen Ghana and posterity will know that no wrong was done.\u201d<\/p>\n

He warned again that repealing the L.I. alone will not save the environment. \u201cRepealing the L.I have not solved the problem because the point is that if LEAD gets into the soil, it\u2019s going to take about 70, 80, 100 years to be revived. That is scary,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\"CPP\u2019sFormer Convention People’s Party (CPP) running mate, Wayoe Ghanamannti Esq., has criticised the decision to revoke the Legislative Instrument (L.I.) on illegal mining, saying it does little to address the real damage caused by galamsey and risks endangering the future of the country.<\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":{"facebook_2277560469115098_106292521332774":"","twitter_aToxNzczMzI3Njk4OTg4ODUxMjAxOw==_1773327698988851200":""},"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[196,14210,14164,1883,10,9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-107729","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-galamsey","category-ghanamannti","category-l-i-2462","category-national","category-politics","category-popular"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/107729","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=107729"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/107729\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=107729"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=107729"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=107729"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}