According to Dr Tuffour, a lecturer at the University of Cape Coast, only King of Asante Otumfuo Osei Tutu II can aid in the fight against galamsey, particularly in the Ashanti Region region.
In recent years, the Ashanti Region has been one of the centres for illicit mining.
Speaking on unlawful mining, the king of the Ashanti Kingdom, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II chastised government officials for the inability to address the problem.
At the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), the Minister for Lands and Natural Resources Abu Jinapor stated that Chiefs cannot be excluded as the driving factor behind illicit mining in Ghana.
I come from a palace and I can say without a shred of equivocation that in most cases, no one, and I repeat, no one can bring a chain saw to harvest in the forest or an excavator to mine in the bush or chanfang to work on a river body in a community without the knowledge, acquiescence or passive approval somehow of the Chief, elders, the assemblymen, opinion leaders and or local authorities in the community, he said.
We have to begin to be blunt about this situation on our hands. It is the honest truth and, sadly for me, I am having to say it and do so publicly. Ladies and gentlemen, you may have heard that on Thursday 29th September 2022 on behalf of the president of the republic, I paid a working visit to our men and women in uniform-the operation halt two team in Manso Datano in the Amansie South District, he added.
Dr Tuffour of the University of Cape Coast, however, argued that chiefs are responsible for the growth in illicit mining operations in the nation while appearing on OKAY FM in Accra.
He claims that Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, the monarch of the Ashanti Kingdom, can make sure that galamsey ends, particularly in his Kingdom.
According to the UCC lecturer, the King should launch his investigations, identify the Chiefs responsible and depose them to serve as a warning to others who may be committing similar crimes.
This will aid in the fight against the threat that is destroying Ghana's forest reserves and water resources.
We all know the power Otumfuo wields. He alone can stop galamsey. Some Chiefs are to be blamed for the galamsey. If Minister wants to fight galamsey, he should expose the chiefs involved. Mention names, name and shame. We will not solve the problem if we go in circles. Otumfuo is aware of people who are engaged in because he made that known during one consultative meeting. Our forefathers left us lands and asked that chiefs take care of them so if these Chiefs will sell the lands, then we should destool them, he said.