The Wa Circuit Court has sentenced five Burkina Faso nationals to 20 years in prison each for engaging in illegal mining in the Wa West district of the Upper West region.
The court found them guilty of violating section 23(1) of the Criminal Offences Act and section 99 of the Minerals and Mining Act as amended.
The convicts were arrested on March 23 at an illegal mining site in Maase, Wa West district, after policemen on patrol received information about ongoing mining activities in the area.
Upon spotting the police, the miners attempted to escape but were apprehended. A search at the site led to the recovery of three water-pumping machines and other mining implements.
The accused admitted in their caution statements to mining without a licence, stating that they had previously been engaged in Burkina Faso but crossed the Black Volta River into Ghana due to drought.
The court convicted the five foreigners on two counts: conspiracy to commit a crime (mining without a licence) and mining without a licence as a non-Ghanaian.
The principal state attorney, Saeed Abdul Shakur, in an interview with Citi News, highlighted that the accused were caught in the act and could not deny their involvement.
The conviction sends a clear message to individuals involved in such activities, as the minimum sentence for foreigners found guilty of illegal mining in Ghana is 20 years.
“The police conducted a swoop at the black Volta close to Jamboso and arrested 5 persons, all of them were Burkinabé nationals. And they were actually mining close to the bank of the river, somewhere even mining inside the river. They were arrested and arranged for the circuit court and remanded to the presence of police custody.”
“They decided to plead guilty in simplicity, all the five pleaded guilty and asked the court to be lenient with them, so the court was actually lenient by sentencing them to 20 years imprisonment on both counts. In the mining act, the minimum you can give any foreigner doing illegal mining in Ghana is 20 years. They were caught actually in the act, they were inside the pit when they were arrested. Eventually, they couldn’t do anything.”
He emphasised that the court’s decision is a strong warning to those who engage in illegal mining activities.
