Blame the chiefs for increasing galamsey activities — Osafo-Marfo

Yaw Osafo-Marfo, the Senior Presidential Advisor to President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, has said chiefs must be partly blamed for allowing illegal mining popularly known as galamsey to thrive when licenses are issued without recourse to traditional authorities.

He questioned the failure of the security agencies to successfully fight illegal mining in the country.

He criticized the traditional leaders for allowing illegal miners to destroy lands and water bodies through their activities.

He insisted that chiefs cannot exempt themselves from blame since they benefit from the activities of galamsey.

Speaking at the 23rd General Meeting of the Presbyterian Church of Ghana at Kwahu Abetifi in the Eastern Region, Osafo-Marfo said Look at what galamsey is doing to the land, and should we allow monies that a few people want to make to destroy the very base of water that we need to drink? There are areas where you cannot even purify the water and where you can, we are spending more than three times what we used to spend in purification and all this is happening in the direct face of our chiefs that gave the land for the galamsey.

He also noted that corruption is growing from bad to worse in the country.

According to him, the Church must play a crucial role in combating corruption in the country.

The former Finance and Education Minister questioned how we defend the Christian faith when 70 percent of all monies siphoned illegally from the public purse every year were stolen by Christians.

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