The Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, has described the country’s fight against galamsey as a charade.

Addressing sub-chiefs in the region at the first General Meeting of the Ashanti Regional House of Chiefs in 2022, the Ashanti Kingdom’s paramount chief bemoaned the government’s failure to effectively combat the canker, despite measures in place to curb it.

Dissatisfied with the situation, the Asantehene referred to the efforts as a sham.

“I hate these lies. The fight is full of lies. I hate lies. They should give us a break. It is full of lies,” he stressed.

Venting his spleen, he alleged that the government is very much aware of the financiers and true perpetrators of illegal mining, however, they have employed gimmicks to shield such persons.

This, according to him, is the main factor derailing the fight against galamsey.

“Are they saying they don’t know those behind galamsey in Ghana? The gold ends up being sold abroad. So who is behind the sale of gold abroad? Is it not the financier? How come he is not arrested?” he asked.

“You send military men to galamsey sites; they end up arresting labourers covered with mud. Can this man be the one behind galamsey? This is someone hired by a big fish to work at his site. Who is the final receiver of the gold? How come the one who bought excavators is left off the hook?” a baffled Asantehene could not hold back his frustration.

He believes once the financier is arrested, galamsey will be a thing of the past.

Expressing his frustrations further, he noted that “the military as usual photographs a poor labourer whose body is always covered in dirt; a man who receives partly 200, 300 cedis from a financier. Then they say they have arrested galamsey operators. You will find nothing on that man when he is searched,” he noted.

“What then happens to the financier? How come he is not arrested,” he further asked.

The Galamsey fight

Recall that President Akufo-Addo in 2017, put his presidency on the line with a commitment to end illegal small-scale mining, popularly called galamsey, in Ghana.

However, five years down the line, the galamsey fight has been described by many as a lost battle, following failed efforts to efficiently deal with the menace.

At the meeting of the chiefs, the Asantehene bemoaned the adverse impact of galamsey and its related activities on the environment and questioned his sub-chiefs on their efforts to curb the menace.

Also, he cautioned them against taking incentives from perpetrators of illegal mining, adding that “whoever has benefited financially from galamsey will surely pay for it.”

Source: The Independent Ghana