The Paramount Chief of the Okyeman Traditional area, Osagyefo Amoatia Ofori Panyin II, has blamed government for the influx of Chinese illegal miners into the country.
According to him, various institutions in the country such as the Police and the Minerals Commission are not enforcing the State's laws thereby giving foreigners the leeway to flout them with impunity.
Speaking at the government's policy fair at Koforidua in the Eastern Region, the Okyehene emphasised that �the law says, the land may belong to a chief, the farm may belong to a cocoa farmer but ore underneath the land, the President holds that in trust for the people."
He added: �So if somebody is using excavators in broad day light and steals something that belongs to Central Government, the relevant authorities should in plain language arrest the person.�
According to him, government is not preventing anyone from gaining access to a permit to mine for precious minerals hence the right procedure should be followed and respected to ensure that government and the people of Ghana profit from the taxes for further development.
He also attributed the clashes between the Chinese galamsey operators and the indigenes of Manso-Nsiana to the lack of respect for the laws of the country.
�We have disrespected our laws so much that people from China can walk into our country illegally and engage in illegal activities, destroy our rivers, drop mercury into the rivers that we drink and still have the audacity to hold a gun to fight Ghanaians," the King said.
"And it so happens because we don�t respect our laws, so they also don�t,� Osagyefo Ofori Panyin II lamented.
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