Galamsey fight: You can’t use a shoot to kill policy – Security Analyst

Security Analyst Col. Festus Aboagye (RTD) has opined that there cannot be any shoot to kill policy in the galamsey fight as some top government communicators have called for.

He mentioned in an interview with Alfred Ocansey on the Ghana Tonight show on TV 3 on Tuesday 8th October, 2024 that in its exact sense, the people engaged in galamsey are not enemies of the state though their kind of activities are inimical.

“There cannot be any shoot to kill policy. If we need to shoot to kill, we shoot to kill enemies. The galamsayers are offenders of the law not enemies of the state”

“Given our own culture of trigger happiness, from the experiences of Ayawaso West Wuogon, Ejura, Ashaiman and so on, if care is not taken and this emergency declaration comes on and its rule of engagement allows the military to shoot to kill, it is going to have very negative consequences on human rights generally, and it is going to have implications on the elections” Col. Aboagye cautioned.

He stated his support for the declaration of a state of emergency rather than the use of an executive instrument in the fight against galamsey but insisted that the implementation of a state of emergency must be well crafted and designed in such a way that it does not impair human rights and freedoms.

According to the Security Analyst, it is not automatic that the military should be deployed once a state of emergency has been declared but it depends on the objectives of the state of emergency.

He added that the declaration of a state of emergency against galamsey as demanded by some Ghanaians is completely different from the ones in the past such as the Covid-19 situation.

Col. Aboagye reiterated that the state of emergency can be declared, but looking at the current circumstances, the government is not approaching the galamsey fight with the kind of understanding required.

“If the government hasn’t got the political will and commitment to stick to whatever it is going to rollout this time, let’s stop because it is not going to work. You can put the Navy on the rivers, you can put the army on the land, and you can put every resource into the operation, but without political will, it is not going to work because the politically exposed persons will continue to mine and when they are arrested, they will be released or may not be even arrested ” Col. Aboagye warned.

The Security Analyst argued that the previous effort failed because of selfish political interests. He argued that the LI 2462 for instance, was politically engineered to create the window for politically related persons to go into mining.

He is suggesting that the government needs to sit down and consult widely with other experts and analyse all the available information in order to come out with a comprehensive plan before any state of emergency is declared.

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By Samuel Afriyie Owusu

The post Galamsey fight: You can’t use a shoot to kill policy – Security Analyst first appeared on 3News.

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