The Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) has intensified its crackdown on illegal mining activities, with a focus on the widespread failure to comply with Ghana’s mining regulations.
“If you are not compliant, you are not compliant with mining standards. You are breaching, and that would mean policing other agencies as well. But where do we come in? Where we come in is when someone has circumvented the processes, perhaps by giving someone an incentive and gaining unlawful access to restricted areas like forest reserves. That’s when our office steps in to investigate the criminal aspects.”
The OSP’s probe is largely focused on understanding how certain mining companies gained entry into forest reserves, where mining is strictly prohibited. Allegations of bribes being paid to authorities to bypass environmental safeguards are a major concern. “The question is, are you in the forest reserve because you followed the right process or because you paid someone off? Did someone in a position of power receive money or other incentives to turn a blind eye? That’s the core of our investigation,” the OSP spokesperson added.
One of the key findings of the investigation so far is the use of financially incapable individuals as frontmen for illegal mining operations. “We have seen cases where the names on the paperwork don’t match the financial capability of the individuals. You see someone who cannot even buy a bicycle listed as the owner of a mining operation. That raises red flags for us because it indicates that someone with real financial power is hiding behind these people,” the OSP revealed. “This helps us trace the money trail and uncover who the real beneficiaries of these mining activities are.”
While the OSP is leading the investigation into potential corruption within the mining sector, it acknowledged that enforcement of mining laws is primarily the responsibility of other agencies, such as the police. “We are conducting investigations into illegal mining, but we also have to consider that some matters, like the actual mining activity, are within the jurisdiction of other enforcement bodies. For us, the real issue is corruption, following the money trail, identifying who gave what to whom, and proving that these incentives were exchanged before someone unlawfully entered the field,” the OSP explained.
Source: Ghana/Starrfm.com.gh/103.5FM/Mary Asantewaa Buabeng
