Otumfuo’s Manwerehene has condemned chiefs who sell lands to illegal miners popularly known as ‘galamsey’ hinting that the activities of these miners are affecting the natural environment, and that the Otumfuo Osei Tutu II will soon apply sanctions against such persons.
Nana Baffour Osei Hyeamann Brantuo IV in an interview with journalists said, “it is illegal and unacceptable for any chief within Asanteman to sell land either belonging to him or not to illegal miners. Such a ruler would be dealt with by state authorities aside the local sanctions to be applied by the Asanteman Traditional Council”.
He, however, observed that because chiefs are not direct beneficiaries of the mining because they do not earn much money from the activity adding that, “though chiefs own lands, yet resources beneath it directly belong to the nation. Anybody who does that has committed a crime and he is stealing from the government”.
He therefore appealed to state authorities not to only concentrate on the illegal miners but rather, the so-called bigger mining companies which have been issued with licenses to mine the resources of the country.
“If Obuasi Gold Mine is depleting our resources without any compensation and good deal to benefit the country, then I’m afraid we have a lot to do as a country.
Every week, they extract pure gold and export them by plane and we don’t even know where it goes. Just because they have invested do not mean they have the right to take away what belongs to us. When a Ghanaian does the same thing with unconventional means, it becomes illegal”, he stressed.
Source: Today
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