Overlord of the Ashanti kingdom, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, has called out the charade by some authorities who pretend to be fighting illegal mining in the country.
According to him, most chiefs are aware of those involved in the illegal mining activities, locally known as galamsey.
He noted that chiefs cannot claim to be oblivious of the menace when they are actually the same people who give out the lands for such practices.
![Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, Ashanti, Ghana. [ghanacelebrities]](https://i0.wp.com/ocdn.eu/images/pulscms/YTQ7MDA_/d1060fe18a72530d3c7f96d7f3383fb4.jpeg?w=640)
“The galemsey we are talking about, if I take out 10 persons here, 30% of you know those involved in galamsey,” the Asantehene said at a consultative forum on illegal mining.
“If we don’t speak the truth, we’ll continue to lie to ourselves and continue organising fruitless conferences like this.”
“One of the illegal miners actually confessed that the chiefs gave them the land. He said it right here. Every chief that has given land to people to mine illegally but accept that they erred.”
The government has renewed its efforts to clamp down on illegal mining, with the military directed to destroy all excavators on site.
Last week, the taskforce against illegal mining activities has reportedly set ablaze fifteen (15) excavators in the Central Region.
