We support your administration to sanction persons engaged in illegal mining – Chiefs assure Akufo-Addo

The National House of Chiefs has welcomed President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo’s appeal for a collaborative effort to fight illegal mining (galamsey) in the country.

At a crunch meeting in Kumasi on Wednesday, October 5, President Akufo-Addo told the chiefs that he cannot fight illegal mining alone.

He appealed to the chiefs who are custodians of 80% of lands in Ghana to assist him to win the battle against galamsey.

“80 per cent of the lands in this country continue to be under your custody, much of it having been acquired through the blood and sacrifices of your ancestors. The remainder of 20 per cent which I hold in trust of the people of Ghana, derived from state acquisition from you.

“What this means is that ultimately, the welfare of the state of the lands is our joint responsibility, although by statute the minerals in the soil belong to the President in trust for the people,” President Akufo-Addo said at the meeting.

The President added, “I ask all of you to join hands in the fight against illegal mining. We have to win that fight, to protect our heritage for the next generation.”

Speaking on behalf of the chiefs, National House of Chiefs President Ogyeahohoo Yaw Gyebi assured the President that they are ready to back him in the fight against the galamsey menace.

He said Chiefs will support the President to prosecute persons involved in illegal mining in the country regardless of their social or political status.

“Your relentless war against forest degradation and illegal mining in Ghana is of great importance to Ghanaians, especially we the chiefs.

“The effects of illegal mining on the environment threaten the survival of water bodies, farmlands, cocoa industry and even encouraging school dropouts, this undermines the revenue mobilisation drive in the country.

“In view of this development [the Chiefs] are solidly behind your administration to apply the appropriate sanctions against persons who are engaged in the practice of illegal mining irrespective of their status,” Ogyeahohoo Yaw Gyebi shared.