By Patrick Biddah
A Civil Society Organization, Lands and Mining Watch Ghana (LMWG), has blown the alarm on an alleged exporting of illegal gold valued at $ 7million.
The group, claim the gold is being exported in connivance with some state actors and an alleged powerful lady with the name Angela List.
According to the group, the gold is being taken from Adamus Resources Limited under very unjustified circumstances.
Addressing a press conference in Accra, the Spokesperson, Mr Solomon Solomon Owusu, indicated that the arrangement is a violation of the country’s mineral laws and especially when there is no interim management committee.
“This egregious violation of the law has been facilitated under the guise of the non-existence of the Interim Management Committee (IMC), in direct defiance of the consequential orders issued by the esteemed Accra High Court”, he revealed.
Referring to a court order, Mr Owusu, said an Accra High Court has directed for an interim management Committee to be constituted to oversee any transactions of exporting.
But without any appeal filed, Mr Owusu described the alleged exporting as blatant Contempt.
“This blatant disregard for the rule of law and the judiciary’s authority is unacceptable and demands immediate redress.”, he fumed.
Mr Owusu , who spoke on a wide range of issues, questioned why government is not protecting its 10% stake in Adamus Resources Limited and looking on to see some elements of the state colluding to export.
This for him, it is a betrayal of the public trust and the commitment of law enforcement agencies put to doubt.
He was also worried that the Attorney General’s office seems to providing some advice to Angela List and Nguvu Mining regarding the effect of an injunction application.
“Such interference in judicial matters undermines the independence and impartiality of our judicial system and erodes public confidence in the administration of justice. The Attorney General’s role is to uphold the law, not to circumvent it or undermine the authority of our courts”, he said.
In light of the ongoing, he calked on the President in these difficult times of massive depreciation of the Ghanaian cedi to be more concerned about how dollars are shipped out of the country which dollars could be used to shore up the cedi’s stability
“The media, civil society organizations, and all stakeholders must unite in demanding accountability and transparency. It is imperative that those responsible for violating the law are held to account and that measures are put in place to prevent such flagrant disregard for court orders and national interests from occurring in the future”, he appealed.
The Government of Ghana, he said must assert its authority and fulfill its responsibilities to safeguard the nation’s interests in the mining sector.