Correspondence from Western Region:

The Divisional Chief of Gwira Banso in the Nzema East Municipality of the Western Region, Nana Ette Akrade II has 'declared war against' illegal miners on the river Ankobra with a commitment to flush them out.

Nana Ette Akrade II who was enstooled as the Divisional Chief for the area in 2020 said the fight against galamsey cannot be won by the government alone but with the inclusion of Chiefs.

He pledged his commitment to collaborate with the government to arrest anybody who would mine on River Ankobra of his area.

Nana Ette Akrade II made the statement in a telephone conversation after a visit to observe how some galamseyers had polluted the river.

The Ankobra River which serves as a source of potable water for Gwira Banso residents and other communities has been polluted by the activities of illegal miners.

The Ankobra River which was clean some few years ago has since turned brownish due to galamsey activities.

It was observed that some galamseyers were still on the river with their machines despite the government's ban on illegal mining in the country.

The government of Ghana has on its part ordered all illegal miners in the country to stop their operations on the water bodies and the forest reserves.

Nana Ette Akrade II commended the government for renewing its fight against the illegal mining activities in the country to protect lives.

According to him, he would not sit aloof for his subjects to destroy the green forest in the area.

"Now that government has said nobody should do galamsey in the country, I am happy. I want to assure the government that I will never sit there unconcerned for anybody to do galamsey in our forest and also mine on the Ankobra River. I will set a task force to Patrol the river frequently and whoever caught will be dealt with according to the laws of Ghana.", he said.

The Gwira Banso Traditional Chief, therefore, made a passionate appeal to his people to also join the campaign against environmental degradation, pollution of water bodies, and depletion of their green forest among others.

He took the opportunity to appeal to the government to as a matter of urgency introduce a Community Mining Program in the area to reduce the unemployment rate.