Joseph Boahen Aidoo, Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD), has lamented the rate at which illegal small scale miners (galamseyers) are destroying cocoa farms in the country.

He said the activities of these miners are destroying the backbone of the Ghanaian economy, a situation that could have dire consequences the country’s finances.

Mr Boahen Aidoo has therefore, called on the security authority to scale up their operations in clamping down on these illegal miners.

He told journalists that “More or less it is the economy of the country that is being destroyed and these are clear saboteurs yet we have recalcitrant citizens who are still burnt on engaging in illegal mining.

“If the backbone of the economy is destroyed then what is the fate of this country? “

He added : “It is sad and I think the security agencies will have to step up their activities or operations on these illegal miners because if we are not careful we will destroy the entire cocoa industry.”