Minister of the Interior, Muntaka Mohammed-Mubarak has announced government’s new policy to deal with crimes of fraud and illegal mining (galamsey) perpetrated by foreign nationals in Ghana.
In a meeting with the Ghana Police Service, he announced the government will no more prioritize prosecuting foreigners involved in these crimes.
Pledging to end the menace of galamsey and fraud, he stated, “We have resolved as a new policy that for two things if you’re caught in out forest doing galamsey or cutting down trees unlawfully or getting yourself into fraud activities that’s using computer or other fraud activities, for these 2 crimes if we arrest any foreigners we are not interested in prosecuting them. The first option is to take them back to their country.”
According to him, several foreign nationals, particularly from China and other countries, have been implicated in unlawful activities including galamsey, illegal logging, and sophisticated online fraud targeting victims worldwide.
He described the operations as highly coordinated and damaging to both the environment and Ghana’s international reputation.
Under the new directive, the Ghana Police Service has been instructed to prioritize the deportation of any foreigner found engaging in these criminal acts, especially those operating within Ghana’s forests. Prosecution, he said, is no longer the focus.
“This is something that we are very serious about and you (police) are the first point of call. When we make arrests or they (these criminals) are handed over to you and it involves these two things, the prosecutors within the police should know that I have officially written to the Attorney General. We are not interested in prosecuting people who are destroying our environment and who are defrauding others. What we want is that we want to take them back to their countries and put them on a stop list never to come back to our country.”
The Minister stressed that the government is serious about protecting the country’s natural resources and safeguarding citizens from fraud, warning that any foreign national caught in such activities will be swiftly removed from Ghanaian soil.
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We are not interested in prosecuting foreigners engaged in galamsey and fraud; we will deport them instead – Interior Minister.#JoyNews pic.twitter.com/W7awYnNIzH
— JoyNews (@JoyNewsOnTV) April 4, 2025
