Kyebi, traditional capital of the Akyem Abuakwa state, is full of illegal aliens who are engaged in illegal activities, the Okyenhene, Osagyefo Amoatia Ofori-Panin II has lamented.
According to him, the unfortunate twist of the development he abhors is the failure of the appropriate security agencies to communicate how those illegal aliens found themselves in the town.
The President of the Eastern Regional House of Chiefs, the Okyenhene, was speaking at arecent meeting with the Eastern Regional Minister, Seth Kwame Acheampong, when the minister visited the palace.
The chief was responding to some concerns the Eastern Regional Minister had raised in his remarks, including galamsey. His remarks preceded that of Osagyefo.
The Okyenhene had expressed worry over the ongoing small-scale mining, as well as the illegal mining, popularly known as galamsey.
Extending his ad lib, he indicated that because chiefs are not involved in the issuing of residence permits and license to potential miners, they are unable to tell which foreigner or miner is genuine.
Considering the situation the chiefs find themselves in, he added that foreigners with no documentation find it lucrative to come to the country and engage in various forms of illegal activities.
“…Because of that, people from Guinea, Niger – truckloads of people from their country come to Ghana to engage in galamsey. But, we do not have ammunition, we do not have the coesive force to stop them. If you ask Immigration Service how those people came, they are unable to answer. In this our town – the Kyebi town is full of illegal aliens who are engaged in illegal activities. MCE can’t do anything about it, we can’t also do anything about it. So, if the government cannot also do something about it, then where are we heading towards? We have said it several times. When they came to gather at Zongo [a community in Kyebi], myself and my chiefs went to sack them.”
He continued that: “So, if we don’t help, it is like we are singing a song just for the fun of it. I’ve told the President and he agrees with me. I’ve had the opportunity to speak to the Finance Minister. I will speak to Abu Jinapor. Enough is enough.
“That mining and the galamsey which today we have named as community mining we won’t allow. Because it is not helping anyone. It doesn’t go well for us and the government. The foreigners come for the money and take it away.
“We understand all documents and licence needed for one to undertake mining rest in the bosom of the President in Accra, so if one obtains the licence then he will then bring it to the DCE at the local level where normally durbars are held to inform the people, but the chiefs do not have any say in it.
“When all is said, the people will then approach the chiefs to inform them about their acquired licence to mine in the community and will just present something small for the chiefs, but the chiefs will then be blamed after lands and water bodies are destroyed in the process.
“Just recently I was here when the sector minister came talking about community mining and I told him point-blank not to come and deceive the chiefs because there is nothing better in community mining, because it is similar to galamsey. They use the same method to cause destruction to the land but just that this has been described as a policy from government”, he said.
Meanwhile, the Okyenhene proposed a meeting with the Eastern Regional Minister to have a reclamation plan, as a lot of lands have not been reclaimed across the communities which are dangerous to human lives especially children.
Kibi or Kyebi is a town and the capital of the East Akim Municipality, in the Eastern Region of Ghana, on the eastern slopes of the Atewa Range. At the last check, Kyebi lies at an altitude of 318m, with a settlement population of over 11,677 people.
The post Truckload of Guineans, Nigeriens in Ghanadoing galamsey -Okyenhene appeared first on The Chronicle Online.
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