Mr Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah, the Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, has paid a courtesy call on Asantehene Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, to brief him on the government’s planned mining and forest sub-sector reforms.

The courtesy call was to seek Otumfuo’s support and guidance towards achieving the policies and programmes outlined by the Ministry.

The Minister for Lands and Natural Resources eulogised Asantehene for his outstanding and exemplary leadership, which was manifested in ensuring litigation-free land-related matters in the Ashanti Region.
The Minister decried the devastating impact of galamsey, noting that 44 of the country’s 288 forest reserves had been devastated by illegal mining activities, with the turbidity level of the major water bodies moving from 5,000 NTU to 12000.

Mr Buah outlined some immediate and radical initiatives the government took to address the illegal mining menace.

Asantehene Otumfuo Osei Tutu II commended the lands minister for the visit and urged heads of Agencies and other ministry officials to give the Minister the necessary support.

Otumfuo admonished Armah-Kofi Buah to address the root cause of the illegal mining menace.
He asserted that if the youth in the mining areas were exposed to meaningful and sustainable sources of livelihood, they would resist the temptation of mining in water bodies and forest reserves.

He also encouraged the government to go after the “big fishes” in the galamsey business and prosecute them, instead of focusing only on the youth involved in the illegal act. He urged the Ministry to develop an alternative livelihood programme to cater for their basic needs.

On the issue of public lands, Otumfuo advised the Minister to ensure that the phenomenon of indiscriminate sale of public lands to politically exposed persons should be halted under his tenure.