Awiaso Paramount chief urges Armah-Kofi Buah to intensify fight against galamsey

King Kaku Aka III, Paramount Chief of the Awiaso Traditional Area, has made an urgent appeal to Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah, Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, to bite the bullet in curbing the galamsey menace, which is spreading like wildfire in the Nzema area in particular, and other parts of the Western Region.

According to him, on a recent journey from Accra to the Nzema area, he could not believe his eyes as major river bodies such as the Pra, Ankobra, Greater Amanzule, and Tano Rivers have all turned milky as they continue to be ravaged by illegal mining activities popularly known as galamsey.

He noted with concern the wanton destruction of arable land, river bodies, and forest reserves, culminating in environmental degradation, thereby "threatening our very survival and that of posterity."

King Kaku Aka III said that despite interventions by the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources in the galamsey fight — such as the Blue Water Guards initiative and the National Anti-Illegal Mining Operations Secretariat (NAIMOS), which serve as vanguards in safeguarding water bodies, land, and forest reserves, as well as other judicial support and regulatory reforms — galamsey activities continue to be on the ascendancy, as major river bodies and forest reserves are being destroyed.

King Kaku Aka III expressed these sentiments in an interview with the media at Awiaso in the Ellembelle District of the Western Region.

He recalled that while in opposition, the National Democratic Congress (NDC), with special reference to Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah, launched scathing attacks and criticisms against the then New Patriotic Party (NPP) government, urging it to do all within its power to halt the galamsey menace.

King Kaku Aka III, therefore, wondered why Armah-Kofi Buah — who is playing a dual ministerial role at the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources and the Ministry of Environment, Science and Technology has been unable to stop galamsey activities one and a half years into the administration of the National Democratic Congress (NDC).

He noted that the galamsey fight requires strong political will and called on Armah-Kofi Buah to redouble his efforts in combating the illegality in order to safeguard the land, water bodies, forest reserves and the environment.