The Okyenhene, Osagyefuo Amotia Ofori Panin, has reaffirmed his resolve to halt illegal small-scale mining in the Akyem Abuakwa Traditional Area with a call for the arrest and prosecution of any traditional ruler in the area suspected to be promoting the practice. According to him, any chief who would be found to have collected money and given out land to the illegal miners to operate in the area should be made to face the full rigours of the law without any fear or favour. He said if the laws of the country were to be respected and promoted, then those found guilty of flouting them, such as chiefs and members of royal families, including his own children, should not be spared but be made to face the law. The Okyenhene also advised citizens of the area to refrain from joining the illegal mining, warning that those found involved should not be spared. "Our ability to subject chiefs, members of royal families, citizens of Okyeman and outsiders to the full rigours of the law, without any favour, fear or political interference, will serve as a deterrent to others who are bent on destroying our forests and river bodies in the pursuit of their selfish interests," he said. Addressing the Okyeman Council at his palace, Osagyefuo Ofori Panin said, "If you, as chiefs, allow poverty to compel you to give out land to selfish individuals to destroy our forest reserves, water bodies and the ecology, at the expense of the people and posterity, then you must be made to be accountable for your selfish actions by facing the laws of the land." The meeting, which coincided with a press conference by the chiefs of the Akyem Abuakwa Traditional Area, also called for a ban on illegal mining in the area and an appeal to the government to tackle the issue with the seriousness it deserved. The meeting came to an abrupt end when a report reached the Okyenhene and his subjects that some media personnel who were being taken round by the Akyem Abuakwa mining monitoring team to have a first-hand observation of the effects of the illegal mining on the land in the area had been assaulted by some of the illegal miners. The reporters were chased into their waiting vehicle but, unfortunately, Mr Frank Okyere, the Eastern Regional correspondent of TV Africa, sustained a minor injury on the head when one of the galamsey operators slammed the door of the four-wheel drive on his head. In another meeting to interact with the media, the Okyenhene expressed anger at the manner in which rumours were making the rounds that he (the Okyenhene) had, over the years, had a hand in the activities of galamsey operators in the area. According to him, those unfounded rumours had negatively cast a slur on his 10 year reign during which he had consistently promoted environmental conservation in Okyeman. "As an advocate of environmental conservation, if the land belongs to me, how then can I contract some people to dig the gold and the diamonds which are vested with the government and share with them?" Osagyefuo Ofori Panin asked. "It will be highly hypocritical of me to preach environmental conservation and turn round to engage in activities that will undermine my resolve to protect the land for our people and future generations he emphasised. He added that "anybody who goes around saying that I, Osagyefuo Amotia Ofori Panin, have authorised or instructed him to operate on our land for gold and diamond is a blatant liar and must, therefore, be brought before the council of chiefs to prove himself of his claims". To that end, the Okyenhene warned that any chief found to be promoting galamsey operations in the area should consider himself not part of the traditional council any longer. "If, as a chief, you are caught to be backing illegal mining in your area, do consider yourself not a part of the traditional council and never, on any occasion, attempt to step foot in my palace," he warned the chiefs. According to him, the incessant and blatant depletion of more than 80 per cent of forest-reserves in Okyeman and its environs and the heavy pollution of the Birim River, which had been the main source of drinking water for the people over the years, by a syndicate of illegal chainsaw operators and illegal miners were seriously undermining efforts to protect the forest and other natural resources in the area. He acknowledged that while the youth needed to be provided with jobs, the manner in which the land was being degraded and abandoned posed a serious threat to people, especially women and children who often had to cross such degraded and dangerous land to their farms. Source: Daily Graphic/Ghana