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| Asantehene Otumfuo Osei Tutu II (King of the Asante Kingdom) |
Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, the King of the Ashanti Kingdom, has requested that government officials and security officers working to combat the illicit mining threat concentrate on funding sources rather than harassing labourers.
He thinks the threat that has ruined the nation's water resources may be defeated if the spotlight is shifted from labourers to financiers.
At their first meeting of the year, Otumfuo informed the Ashanti Regional House of Chiefs of this.
He questioned if individuals covered in mud would be able to afford to buy or hire excavators.
showing that attention should be paid to the "big men" who are responsible for these concessions.
He said that the Chiefs' reluctance to disclose the deterioration of their forest reserves and the contamination of their water supplies is proof that they are involved in the illicit mining that is going on in their towns.