Galamsey fight: Go after more financiers, kingpins like Wontumi, not labourers – Solomon Owusu to govt

Spokesperson for the United Party, Solomon Owusu, says Ghana's efforts to combat illegal mining have been ineffective because law enforcement has focused on arresting low-level operators instead of the financiers and masterminds behind the activity.

Reacting to the 20-year prison sentence handed to New Patriotic Party (NPP) Ashanti Regional Chairman Bernard 'Wontumi' Antwi-Boasiako, Mr Owusu said the judgment signals a shift towards targeting those he described as the principal actors in illegal mining.

According to him, the strategy of arresting labourers while leaving financiers untouched has undermined the fight against galamsey.

He said arresting the low-level operators "is the reason we are not able to fight galamsey."

Mr Owusu argued that the conviction of Chairman Wontumi represents the first time someone he described as a financier and kingpin has been successfully prosecuted.

"This is the first time a kingpin, somebody that is a financier, the main culprit has been hammered down with this sort of sentence, which is in the right direction," he said.

He described the judgment as "a victory for the fight against galamsey" and urged the public to focus on the enforcement of the law rather than emotion.

"The law has caught up with Wontumi, and rightly so," he said.

Mr Owusu maintained that illegal mining has had severe consequences for public health, arguing that those found culpable should face the full rigours of the law.