In 2021, my team applied to the Ghana Prisons Service and obtained data on inmates in Ghana’s prisons. The data included the nationality of the prisoners serving in Ghana’s prisons.
It revealed that only ONE Chinese national was in our prisons. His offence was not named. (Perhaps he committed a crime against a private person, even his fellow Chinese here).
This was shocking because, years and months preceding our request for the information, hundreds of Chinese had been arrested for illegal mining in Ghana.
At the same time, hundreds of Ghanaians, Nigerians, Burkinabes, and other Africans were serving jail terms for illegal mining. In one instance reported in the news, the judge ordered that after serving their jail terms for illegal mining, the Nigerians jailed 20 years each should be deported.
The Minister of Interior recently said 107 foreigners had been “repatriated” for engaging in illegal miners and fraudulent activities. The government has also confirmed that instead of prosecuting the foreigners, they would be repatriated.
Even though the government uses the term foreigners, Nigerians who commit crimes in Ghana are often arrested and prosecuted. But the Chinese who engaged in the destruction of our forests and water bodies and flout our laws are allowed to go back home and enjoy the wealth they make here.
If this happened elsewhere, we would call it racism, but this is happening in Ghana. If you jail a Nigerian for 20 years for illegal mining and ask his Chinese counterpart to go home in peace, what should we call that?
If Ghanaians did this in China, would they get away with it, especially when the government has confirmed that illegal mining is a threat to our national security?
Mr. President, is this how you swore to defend this country?
