The President of the Bono Regional Home of Chiefs, Osagyefo Oseadeyo Agyemang Badu II, has issued a four-week ultimatum to the federal government to finish unlawful mining (galamsey) throughout the nation.
He stated the federal government’s failure to take action would compel the chiefs within the area to reclaim their lands.
Osagyefo Oseadeyo Agyemang Badu II, who doubles because the Dormaahene, stated this when the flagbearer of the Nationwide Democratic Congress (NDC), John Mahama, paid a courtesy name to the Home of Chiefs.
“We’re giving this incumbent authorities one month to make use of authorized means to cease folks concerned on this Galamsey. The federal government ought to deploy police and troopers into the forests to cease them.
“If the federal government fails to do that, the land is ours, we’ll simply reclaim it and we gained’t permit any kind of mining to happen,” he stated.
This comes after current calls from quite a few people and organisations to ban unlawful mining popularly often called galamsey because of its devastating results on Ghana’s water our bodies.
On September 6, the Ghana Medical Affiliation (GMA), along with different well being unions and associations known as on President Nana Akufo-Addo to instantly ban all small-scale mining operations, each authorized and unlawful.
The group expressed deep concern over the destruction of Ghana’s forest reserves and water our bodies brought on by mining actions.
They emphasised that this environmental hurt poses critical threats to public well being and the nation’s future.
Moreover, the College Academics Affiliation of Ghana (UTAG) has known as for an instantaneous and full ban on all types of galamsey, and normal mining in forest reserves, farms, and rivers.
In a strongly worded assertion issued on September 9, 2024, UTAG warned that if the federal government doesn’t impose the ban by the tip of the month, it should embark on a nationwide strike in collaboration with different labour unions.
Citing alarming statistics, UTAG acknowledged that unlawful mining actions have devastated Ghana’s setting and economic system.
The assertion famous that if galamsey continues at its present charge, the nation might be pressured to import potable water inside six years.
Cocoa manufacturing, a key pillar of Ghana’s economic system, has additionally dropped by 45% this yr, with unlawful mining costing the economic system an estimated $2.3 billion yearly.