‘Weird Oddities’ On The Galamsey Front

K1: Koo, did you hear about what happened in a court dealing with galamsey offenders in Accra this week?

K2: Yes! Hahahaha! I actually coined a phrase to describe it: “weird oddity”!

• “Weird oddity”?

• Okay. I know it's not 'weird' for a Ghanaian lawyer not to be present on the day the trial of his client(s) has been scheduled!

• No! They're always out of town appearing in a different court, or they say they have “fallen sick!” Or their wife is …..

  • Well, on this day, a lawyer appearing for a group of Chinese nationals charged with offences relating to galamsey, had told the judge he would not be present, because he was seeking “medical attention.” But when the case was called, a new lawyer got up and said he was the lawyer of the Chinese.

  • What?

  • Yes! All sorts of 'weird' things can happen in our courts. I was myself nearly cited for contempt once, when I went to court and my lawyer was absent. When my case was called, a man upon whom I'd never set eyes got up and told the magistrate that he was representing me! Out of shock, I rose up and said to the magistrate, “But I don't know him at all!!” I didn't know then that lawyers habitually got “learned friends” of theirs to plead for an adjournment for them, without necessarily informing their clients beforehand!

  • WHAAAAT!

    – The magistrate, of course, was so used to this happening (remember he was a practising barrister once upon a time!) that he shouted me down: “Don't be impudent!” he yelled. “When you have hired a lawyer, you don't speak at all!” I quickly said, “I am sorry my Lord!” Imagine being rebuked and probably risking a charge of contempt of court!

    – But what about this galamsey “oddity” thing you're taking about?

  • Well, having been allowed – apparently – to announce himself as the new lawyer for the Chinese group, this lawyer then proceeded to make an application to the judge to vary the bail conditions of the Chinese people. And the judge saw red. He d knew that a fellow judge had earlier dismissed a similar application made on behalf of the Chinese. “Is it fair of you to ask me to make a ruling on an issue that has already been determined by a brother judge of mine?” he asked the lawyer.

  • Wow!

  • The judge then began – and this is where the 'weird' element comes in – to question the very locus standi or credentials of the lawyer! He ordered him to go and file an application to represent the Chinese.

  • It means he didn't quite approve of the manner the new lawyer had come into the case?

  • Yep! And that would worry me if I were the lawyer. Did the judge not accept the lawyer's implied claim that the Chinese people had instructed him? If the judge had asked him t go and file a formal application to represent the Chinese, what did that do to the substantive case of the Chinese? Would their defence not be weakened as a result of the judge's attitude?

  • Why do you care abut that?

  • Well, no-one is presumed guilty in our courts until he or she has actually been found guilty! No-one is allowed to potentially imperil the defence of an accused person!

  • Isn't that a lot of academic hogwash?

  • If you were an accused person brought before a judge, you wouldn't say so! No; it was an “odd”, “embarrassing” and “weird” situation all right. I think the Bar Association ought actually want to investigate the behaviour of the counsel.

  • Dog bites dog? Ever heard of such a thing?

  • It would be an “oddity” all right! But....

  • But it could happen because a “weird” situation was created?

  • Yep. Let's wait for the next hearing of the case. Maybe the “sick” lawyer would have recovered, and we would see who the lead counsel was! If the two lawyers don't reach an agreement before they get to the court ….

  • A “weird” confrontation might ensue?

  • HAHAHAHAHA! That would be most “odd!”

  • Yes – galamsey brings all sorts of “weird” issues in its wake, doesn't it?

  • Right! Did you hear that the First Deputy Speaker of Parliament had repeated his call for the shooting of galamseyers caught in the act of destroying water-bodies?

  • Yes, and although I am against the death penalty in principle, in this case – where whole generations of Ghanaians are being threatened with a future without adequate supplies of drinkable water – I think shooting them would be justified. Desperate situations demand desperate measures.

  • Even so, for a First Deputy Speaker to be so vocal, when Parliamentary Speakers are not supposed to speak at all but only to direct the proceedings of Parliament (!) is “odd” indeed!

  • And “weirdly”, the wickedness of the galamseyers has also provoked the Commander of Operation Vanguard to publicly condemn the leniency that the courts show to arrested galamsey offenders. He said the tiny fines are not an adequate “deterrent”! (A very good Daily Guide editorial also made the same point.)

  • Yeah. Well, you know soldiers don't like to talk, and that this soldier is talking so clearly and forcefully shows the frustration he must feel – you know,, leading his men into dangerous terrain to catch galamseyers, only to find a judge or magistrate who doesn't give a toss about whether we lose all our rivers or not, imposing a minute fine on the arrested offenders.

  • “Odd” situation all right!

  • And rightly arousing very “weird” reactions from all manner of “odd” quarters!

  • Hahahahahahahaha!