A man who identifies himself as Charles Owusu who claims to be the relative of the late Chief Executive Officer for the Forestry Commission has been embroiled in illegal mining ongoing in the Taabosere enclave in the western region.

In a report filed by Multimedia’s Erastus Asare Donkor, Charles Owusu is heard calling upon the task force in charge clamping down on illegal mining to leave the concession.

According to the site supervisor, whose name was given as Umar, they are working with the permission of some influential “big men” in the country.

In all, the team towed 10 excavators from the site, also seven Chinese miners were transported to Accra where they will be prosecuted.

Meanwhile, the President of Ghana said in his final State of the Nation Address in his first term in office that there is the need for an open conversation on the galamsey fight.

“There is one subject…I believe we the people need to have an open conversation, and that is the phenomenon of galamsey. Should we allow or not allow galamsey,” President Akufo-Addo said.

“The illegal mining, that leads to the pollution of our water bodies and the devastation of our landscape. As I have said often, the almighty haven blessed us with considerable deposits of precious minerals there will always be mining in Ghana, indeed there has always been mining in Ghana. The problem we have is the use of modern technology that leads to the illegal mining menace posing serious dangers to our water bodies and the health of our environment. The pollution of our rivers and water bodies has been so acute on occasions that the Ghana Water Company Limited is unable to afford the distilling of water to make for safe drinking,” Nana Akufo-Addo noted.

“We have to talk about galamsey. We who are leaders owe it to the country to take the subject out of the party political area and have an honest conversation about this menace to our future,” he added.