Concerned Farmers Association president, Nana Oboadie Boateng Bonsu has accused the government of not showing enough commitment to the fight against illegal mining also known as galamsey.
His comment comes on the back of the re-arrest of the popular Chinese galamsey kingpin, Aisha Huang who has been arraigned for fresh charges.
Aisha Huang, who was a household name in Ghana five years ago, was charged together with three others for engaging in sales and purchases of minerals without a license.
She is also separately on a provisional charge of engaging in mining without a license.
However, speaking to Starr News, Nana Oboadie said the government could not fulfil promises made in the fight against galamsey.
According to him, the government made him embark on a fruitless venture of going round the hotpots of galamsey in the country but nothing productive happened.
He added that he cannot go to some of the regions again because the young people will chase him for failing to honour the promise of giving them farming opportunities in place of galamsey.
“So we wrote letters to the Minerals Commission and even met the Minister for Lands and Minerals Resources thinking that we will get support and change the lives of the people. But nothing happened. We moved all the way to Dunkwa and then mobilized all the young people around DunKwan on-Offin.
“I met the Chief of DunKwa and also met the Assembly members around so we registered most of the people who said they are no longer going to engage in galamsey. Rather, they want to go into farming but since that time up till now, nothing has been done again,” Nana Bonsu disclosed.
He continued “So we see that the fight against galamsey that they are talking about is just a scam. All because if it is not a scam why is it that the people that are into galamsey are saying that they are no more into it? They said they will not do the galamsey again and wanted to farm. Just give them the support.”
