Former Member of Parliament for Odododiodoo, Nii Lante Vanderpuye, has called on the state to ensure that the illegal mining of gold in the country is a thing of the past, stating that if given the mandate, he would lead an all-out war to end the menace, popularly known as galamsey.

He said this when speaking to Joynews on Friday, August 8, after he laid a wreath at the Jubilee House following the tragic helicopter crash that claimed the lives of five government officials and three crew members on Wednesday.

"For the lives of these people, I will say we should go out and finish these galamsey people. I will support any decision to go all out. Let me tell you, these people have sacrificed their lives for the sake of ending galamsey. If they had made this sacrifice for us as a country, then we have no excuse to end galamsey."

"I wish that I had that authority, it will be war, because we can't lose these people and still allow people to be in the forest, in our rivers, destroying our environment? No!, I wish the next level of the fight will be in a memory in Omane and the rest," he bemoaned.

The deceased were on their way to Obuasi to attend the launch of a national initiative aimed at combating galamsey when the aircraft went down.

Mr Vanderpuye’s call adds to growing public pressure on the government to adopt tougher, more decisive measures to eradicate galamsey, which continues to devastate the country’s environment and water bodies.