The President of the Bono Regional House of Chiefs and Dormaahene, Osagyefo Oseadeeyo Agyeman Badu II, has dismissed calls for a state of emergency to tackle illegal mining, commonly known as galamsey.

According to him, such a step is unnecessary and urged traditional leaders to use their authority to stop galamsey at the community level.

The Dormaahene made the remarks shortly after he was sworn in, together with 20 others, as a Justice of the Court of Appeal on Thursday, October 2, at the Jubilee House.

He told journalists that while illegal mining must be punished, declaring a state of emergency would not automatically solve the problem.

“No, it has not come to that… Once you declare a state of emergency, the question is, who can do? If we are not able to get that resource, there’ll be a gap. How is the government going to?” he asked.

He insisted that mining itself is not the enemy, but irresponsible and illegal mining is.

“As for mining, nobody would argue that there shouldn’t be mining, but it has to be mined responsibly. That is the whole thing. People who are doing galamsey, we are destroying ourselves. There’s a need to rescind.”

The chief warned that in his jurisdiction, he will act decisively against offenders.

“In Dormaa, if you come there, I’ll arrest you and give you to the police so that you’ll be prosecuted,” he said, appealing to chiefs to exercise their powers.

He added, “I want to appeal, especially we, the chiefs, should not say we don't have the power. If somebody could do it in the jurisdiction and not allow people to do it, why can’t you do it?"

Osagyefo Agyeman Badu II reminded Ghanaians of the long-term cost of illegal mining to livelihoods and food security, urging communities to protect ancestral land and cocoa farms.

“So I’m calling on all Ghanaians that this is the only thing that our ancestors left for us, so we don’t have to destroy the water bodies, we don’t want to destroy our cocoa farms, and ensure that we do farming in the right way so that we can all be happy as Ghanaians,” he said.

His comments come ahead of a scheduled meeting between President John Mahama and civil society organisations on Friday, October 3, where the galamsey crisis is expected to feature prominently.

The Dormaahene argued that local enforcement and responsible mining, backed by chiefs and the police, should be prioritised over emergency rule.

He also stressed the force of existing penalties, warning potential offenders of the consequences:

“Once you are there, be sure that one day you’ll be caught and you know the punishment, minimum 15 years, you have to do that.”