Private legal practitioner Martin Kpebu has criticized the heavy reliance on the military in the fight against illegal mining (galamsey), calling it a misplaced approach.
According to him, the military is not designed or “fashioned” to handle law enforcement duties such as tackling illegal mining.
Instead, the government should focus on equipping and maintaining the police force, as mandated by the 1992 Constitution.
Speaking on the matter on the KeyPoints, Kpebu stressed that the military’s involvement in anti-galamsey operations has, on several occasions, been marred by corruption.
“So far, there have been two clear cases where the military went and joined the galamsey operators,” he alleged.
He argued that this is proof that the solution to the galamsey menace cannot rest solely on the military’s shoulders.
Citing Article 200 of the 1992 Constitution, Kpebu explained that the law is clear about the role of the Police Service and the state’s responsibility to provide them with adequate resources.
“Article 200 of our Constitution says the Police Service shall be equipped and maintained to perform its traditional role of maintaining law and order. So, ask yourself, how have we equipped the police?” he questioned.
He noted that Ghana’s police-to-citizen ratio falls far below international standards.
“The last time I checked, the Police Service had fewer than 60,000 officers. The UN standard is one policeman to 500 citizens. I don’t think we meet that criteria,” he said.
Kpebu added that without adequate equipment and resources, the police cannot perform effectively.
“Last week we spoke about body cameras. Today we are talking about the numbers. These are fundamental,” he emphasized.
