Kenneth Ghartey

Lecturer @UG_SchoolOfLaw | Lawyer | Valuation & Estate Surveyor | Company, Commercial, Restructuring & Insolvency Law | Retweets not endorsements.

[Kenneth Ghartey @KNOGhartey]

@princeganaku @ChaeyRoyale @NoahAdamtey @Ontoyin

[Kenneth Ghartey @KNOGhartey]

Those of us who have not been here for a bit are all back here tonight!

[Kenneth Ghartey @KNOGhartey]

@yaron__zango Interesting.

[Kenneth Ghartey @KNOGhartey]

#StopGalamsey - The destruction of the water bodies and the environment from illegal and irresponsible mining continues! Let us not relegate this important conversation to the background while we discuss political appointments and new gov't policies!

[Kenneth Ghartey @KNOGhartey]

Congratulations to the Editorial Team for the 9th Volume of the Ghana School of Law Student Law Journal. Congratulations, Editor in Chief @e_mongson and your team.

I am proud to have been associated with the very first edition since its renaming, as Editor in Chief.

[Kenneth Ghartey @KNOGhartey]

@yaron__zango Because in our politics, "power" always wins over "reason".

[Kenneth Ghartey @KNOGhartey]

@fremebarima It's not my fault though. The format was there to see, if you looked. I only listed it.

[Kenneth Ghartey @KNOGhartey]

I meant this sarcastically when I wrote it on Facebook. Please don't follow the script. Use your education as a lawyer in a meaningful and impactful way for which you will be remembered positively by posterity. Ill-gotten riches will bring you shame.

[Kenneth Ghartey @KNOGhartey]

@Ladyemmy_ It's sad. The law profession was always fairly "political" but it is now firmly being used as the principal gateway into Ghanaian politics for all the WRONG reasons. Sigh!

[Kenneth Ghartey @KNOGhartey]

@Taykiwaa Congratulations 🎉

[Kenneth Ghartey @KNOGhartey]

@Mr_AmAble Hmmm...

[Kenneth Ghartey @KNOGhartey]

@yaron__zango Hmm... Then I just dey play but people see say the format be solid. I fear someone will see it and start number 1 on Monday.

[Kenneth Ghartey @KNOGhartey]

@Ladyemmy_ I meant this sarcastically when I wrote it on Facebook. Please don't follow the script. Use your education as a lawyer in a meaningful and impactful way for which you will be remembered positively by posterity. Ill-gotten riches will bring you shame.

[Bright Simons @BBSimons]

1. Everybody in Ghana now knows that the government has ramped up the issuance of mining licenses.

2. Between 1988 & Nov 2022, only 150 licenses were issued in Ghana.
3. From 2022 to date, more than 1400 licenses have been issued.

4. In sound policy analysis, however, you dont end there. You connect the dots. Is this just increased efficiency? Better tech? Or what? And why is there any problem with increasing LEGAL mining operations?

5. Detailed analysis shows that this massive ramp-up is due to an increase in political pressure on the Minerals Commission.

6. For instance, in 2019, the Mines Ministry approved 100+ small scale mining (SSM) licenses & nearly 20 mining leases.

7. Yet, the Minerals Commission only confirmed 1 mining lease & 14 blocks for SSM. The mad rush to issue licenses clearly started after 2022 when it was made easier to mine in forests. Clear political overriding of technical decision-making? Was the ministerial change in Feb 2021 a trigger?

8. Why is this an issue? Mainly because the number of inspectors at the Minerals Commission & the Mining Dept of the EPA have not increased enough to match this expansion. Clearly, there has been little thought paid to inspections.

9. Last year, there were barely 38 qualified Minerals Commission inspectors for the whole country after the government sacked 9 District Mine inspectors in 2017.

10. Unsurprisingly, mining inspections dropped significantly over time in some mining hotspots. For instance, in 2016, there were 138 inspections in Bibiani. In 2019, only 46 were conducted. For the whole country only 383 inspections of surface mining operations took place that year. That's barely one inspection per day in the whole country.

11. It takes years to train a qualified mining inspector. There is a limit to how many effective inspections each can conduct over a period. It also takes time and personnel to review new applications.

12. Ten years ago, there were about 220 personnel at the Minerals Commission. Today, that number is still less than 300. How, then, is the agency managing an increase in workload of more than 10x? Is this reasonable? See pictures of some of their district offices taken last year below.

[The Fourth Estate @fourthestategh]

Ghanaian youth are protesting for the release of over 50 protesters and against illegal mining in the capital city, Accra. #FreeTheCitizens #SayNoToGalamsey.

[Gary Al-Smith @garyalsmith]

Yay. GHANA.

This is the Pra River, one of our biggest and most important. This is where it enters the sea. 🇬🇭

#StopGalamseyNow #FreeTheCitizens

[Kenneth Ghartey @KNOGhartey]

Mud can be filtered but can you filter mercury?

We are already in a situation in which the health and livelihoods of an entire country is at risk.

#StopGalamseyNow #FreetheCitizens

[Gary Al-Smith @garyalsmith]

Good morning. The news at 0800 GMT.

This is the Koforidua Water Works, around where the River Densu enters the Weija Dam, which feeds potable water to most in the western parts of Accra.

#StopGalamseyNow

[Bright Simons @BBSimons]

I have a question. Does the ruling party in Ghana have professional consultants working on their reelection campaign like in the past? Or is it just diehard party fanatics in an echo chamber?

I ask because it is obvious to everyone that the Party has lost the narrative on galamsey. Its campaign messaging has been disrupted. It is only now speaking to the Base & has completely abandoned swing voters and the middle classes. Yet, no party in Ghana has a base large enough to win an election.

The party's voices on social media no longer even pretend to be wooing voters. They just stay in their bubble and taunt "neutrals". Accuse everyone who isnt a member of their party of hypocrisy and share videos of dancing and singing party loyalists. This is a classic sign of a party that is losing touch with reality.

I can't find a trace of any messaging that is meant to transcend the base.

I have issues with the campaign of the Opposition party, too. However, the stakes are lower for them. They are not in power. They have been less disrupted by the way galamsey has taken over the public narrative.

[Kenneth Ghartey @KNOGhartey]

2/2
"health centres" where there are no disposable gloves to deliver babies and thereafter lay on the bare floor with their newborns (if they are lucky to survive).

[Kenneth Ghartey @KNOGhartey]

1/2
It is #Day2 of the Annual Ghanaian Festival where comfortable urban elite debate the correct placement of an apostrophe in the name of a holiday.
They do so while their relatives all over the country are being transported on the back of tricycles (if they are lucky) to