.jpg)
Asantehene has criticized the government's anti-galamsey policies and initiatives, saying they are cloaked in deception.
Otumfuo Osei Tutu II asserts that the conflict would remain a sham unless the correct people—particularly financiers—who are accountable for the scourge of illegal mining are discovered.
An angry Asantehene emphasized that the arrest of workers at galamsey sites rather than the site owners reeks of failure while speaking to members of the Ashanti Regional House of Chiefs.
"These lies disgust me. Lies abound in the conflict. I abhor lying. They ought to allow us some space. In Twi, he declared, "It is full of lies.
.jpg)
Despite the deployment of military-led interventions like Operation Vanguard and Galamstop, the government's campaign against illegal mining has run into trouble.
The recent Joynews Hotline documentary "Destruction for Gold" highlighted how illicit mining operations are destroying farms, forest reserves, and water bodies.
Concerning, according to an upset Asantehene, is the tendency where the wrong individuals are targeted without any effort being made to apprehend financiers—including those who purchase excavators and other heavy machinery—for the criminal deed.
He also wants people who profit from gold obtained through criminal means to be found and prosecuted.
When you send military personnel to galamsey sites, they end up detaining workers who are covered in muck. Could this person be the mastermind of Galamsey?
"A big fish recruited this person to work at his facility. Who is the gold's ultimate recipient?
"Why is the person who purchased the excavators off the hook? The military regularly takes pictures of a dirt-covered, impoverished laborer who receives 200 to 300 cedis from a financier.
Then they claim to have detained gambling operators. When you search that man, nothing will be found.
What follows for the financier? Why isn't he being arrested?" he said in Twi.
Are they claiming to not know the Ghanaian criminals responsible for galamsey? The gold is ultimately sold elsewhere. Who then is responsible for the export of gold? Not the financier, is it? Why is he not being detained?
We will abolish galamsey once the funder is taken into custody so that our water bodies can be preserved, he continued.
The government is aware of the offenders but hasn't managed to have them arrested.
They should give us a break because their own is full of lies.
We share some of the blame. We must all admit our errors and carry the fight ahead.
The Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, presided over Friday's meeting, which was the inaugural general meeting of the Ashanti Regional House of Chiefs in 2022.
