Anlo Youth Council Appeals For Funding To Fight Govt Over Keta Lagoon

The Anlo Youth Council (AYC) has said it is determined to continue with its legal battle against the government over the unilateral decision to award the Keta Lagoon to some salt mining companies to mine brine in the lagoon.

To fund the legal battle, it is asking patriotic Ghanaians and Anlos to contribute money towards funding the administrative expenses that are tangential to the suit that it filed 3 years ago at the Supreme Court.

According to the Council, it needs some Ghc10,000 to cater for the administrative expenses and that the legal fees themselves have been absolved by the layers representing the Council, EL Agbemava & Co.

It directs that all donations are routed to the Anlo Youth Council’s Bank account (1003120244500) with the Tema Main branch of OmniBank.

Alternatively, the donations can be made to MoMo number 0241943080.

About three years ago, the AYC invoked the original jurisdiction of the Supreme Court seeking a declaration that the grant of a license by the Minister for Lands and Natural Resources and the Minerals Commission to grant Kensington Industries Limited, Seven Seas salt Limited and other companies or persons to exploit and mine salt in the Keta Lagoon Complex without the approval or ratification by Parliament is unconstitutional.

Defendants in the case are the Attorney General, the Minerals Commission, the director of the wildlife division the Forestry Commission and the Water Resources Commission.

The AYC argues that, apart from the unconstitutionality of the lagoon being awarded on contract for mining without the consent of the government, it is also a Ramsar ecological conservative site so that mining the lagoon will be detrimental to the environment.

It also seeks that the declaration that the Water Resources Commission, Chief Wild Life Officer and the Minister of Lands and Natural Resources have failed to take appropriate measures needed to protect and safeguard the Keta Lagoon Complex, a Ramsar site for posterity contrary to Article 36(9) of the 1992 Constitution.

(iii) A declaration that all licenses granted by the Minister of Lands and Natural Resources to Kensington Industries Limited and/Seven Seas Salt Mining Limited or any other person to extract brine from beneath the bed of the Keta Lagoon Complex, a Ramsar site harms the environment and the people residing within the catchment area of the Keta Lagoon Complex, does not constitute a “sustainable utilization” and “wise use” of the Keta Lagoon Complex, and therefore is inconsistent with Article 36(9) of the 1992 Constitution.

(iv) A declaration that the failure by the Minister for Lands and Natural Resources and the Chief Wild Life Officer to designate or demarcate portions of the Keta Lagoon Complex which is a Ramsar site as a CORE AREA for the effective management of the ecosystem within the Keta Lagoon Complex under the Wetland Management ( Ramsar Sites) Regulation, 1999 (LI 1659) is inconsistent with Article 36(9) of the 1992 Constitution.

(v) A declaration that the compulsory acquisition by the State of land in the Keta Lagoon Complex and grant of a mining license over same to Kensington Industries Limited/Seven Seas Salt Limited and other persons for salt mining without the prompt payment of fair and adequate compensation to the owners of such lands is inconsistent with Article 20 of the 1992 constitution and therefore unconstitutional.

(vi) A declaration that on a true and proper interpretation of Article 20 of the 1992 Constitution the listing of certain stool, Family or Clan lands as Ramsar sites or Wetlands of international importance under the Wetland Management ( Ramsar Sites) Regulation, 1999 (LI 1659) without the prompt payment of fair and adequate compensation to the owners of such lands is inconsistent with Article 20 of the 1992 Constitution and therefore unconstitutional.

(vii) A declaration that the Wetland Management ( Ramsar Sites) Regulation, 1999 (LI 1659) is inconsistent with Article 20 of the 1992 Constitution since it does not provide for the prompt payment of fair and adequate compensation to persons adversely affected by the compulsory acquisition of the wetlands listed therein or a right of access to the High Court for the determination of the rights of ownership of persons claiming ownership of such lands and is therefore unconstitutional.

(viii) An order cancelling or setting aside the Mining licenses granted by the Minerals Commission or the Minister of Lands and Natural Resources to Kensington Industries Limited, Seven Seas Salt Limited and other persons to exploit and mine salt from the bed of the Keta Lagoon on grounds that such licenses lack the approval of or ratification by Parliament under Article 268 of the 1992 Constitution.

(ix) An order setting aside or cancelling the Mining Licenses of Kensington Industries Limited, Seven Seas Limited and other persons granted by the Minerals Commission and/or the Minister of Lands and Natural Resources on grounds that they contravene Article 20 of the 1992 Constitution