The Agbogbomefia of the Asogli state, Togbe Afede XIV, has taken a swipe at the Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo government over its handling of the fight against illegal scale mining, popularly referred to as galamsey.
In his publication, Our Self-Inflicted Monumental Economic Crisis, the paramount chief indicated that the government’s lukewarm approach to fighting galamsey is the reason why the menace is becoming more pervasive.
He added that what shocks him the most is the government’s order for galamsey equipment, which were imported using the country’s scarce foreign currency, to be burned when seized by anti-galamsey taskforces.
“There is no doubt in my mind that our resort to prayers and deities, instead of the law, to stop the massive destruction of our environment by unregulated small-scale miners has presented a negative outlook for our country, generally, and its economy, in particular.
“At a time when environmental sustainability and issues about climate change have dominated discussions at almost every level of global policy dialogue, it is shocking that we can remain apathetic bystanders while a few people destroy our agricultural land and water bodies. It is hard to imagine any other country which will tolerate that level of environmental degradation.
He added, “It was not only a bad environmental practice, but laughable and wasteful to burn a few excavators, which probably cost foreign exchange to bring in, as a way of showing commitment to fighting galamsey”.