The Convenor of the Anti-Galamsey Coalition, Dr. Kenneth Ashigbey, has urged President John Dramani Mahama to immediately dismiss all Municipal and District Chief Executives (MMDCEs) and Police Commanders in communities where illegal mining activities persist.
Dr. Ashigbey argues that such action is necessary to hold local authorities accountable for the continued environmental destruction caused by galamsey.
He further recommended that dismissed officials be interdicted and investigated for possible complicity in the illegal trade.
“I would be asking the President that anywhere there is galamsey, he should dismiss the DCE, the MCE, and the police commanders in those communities. After that, you immediately interdict them and start investigating them for complicity,” he told News reporters.
His comments follow the arrest of four people after a violent confrontation between illegal miners and the Special Anti-Galamsey Taskforce at Bonteso in the Amansie South District of the Ashanti Region.
Reports indicate the clash erupted when the taskforce intercepted an excavator engaged in illegal mining.
A group of miners, allegedly incited by the assembly member for the area, Patrick Asare, pelted officers with stones, blocked all exit routes, and opened fire.
The taskforce responded with what it described as appropriate force to secure their exit, impounding one excavator in the process.
The suspects are expected to be transferred to Accra for further investigation and prosecution.
