“Galamsey is not illegal at Konongo” -Residents

Konongo, the capital of Asante Akim Central Municipality, in the Ashanti region, has come under siege of illegal mining activities, which has bounced back in the old mining community.

Illegal miners have invaded the town and engaged in extraction of the gold in the Owerri River with impunity.

They have taken the residents for ransom, boasting that the traditional and political leadership, as well as the security services cannot stop them.

The miners are openly degrading the river bed of the Owerri River, believed to be rich in gold deposits by employing over 30 excavators, which has led to the destruction of farms and cash crops including cassava, yam and oil palm without restraint.

Death traps have thus been created for farmers, as they cannot visit their farms for fear of falling into the open pits.

“At Konongo, galamsey (illegal mining) is not illegal,” residents complained to The Chronicle during a visit last week.

They emphasised the fact that galamsey is ‘not illegal’ because the authorities are overseeing the activities of the miners without any action.

They mentioned names of those behind the recruitment of about 50 illegal miners in the extraction of gold, leading to the devastation of the environment within the last two months.

The activities of the illegal miners have resulted in allegedly increased social vices and a number of brothels have sprung up, besides other local economic activities.

Meanwhile, farmers whose farms have been destroyed have threatened to take legal action against the miners.

Kofi Alhassan, a farmer, can no longer visit his farm for fear of being drowned in the pit after he had had his one and half acre cassava farm destroyed by the mining activities.

Houses and church building for the New Life Church of Light ,near the mining site, as well as a portion of the road on the Accra-Kumasi highway at Konongo is at the risk of caving in or falling over into the Owerri valley from the combined effects  of excavation and  erosion, if no action is taken swiftly.

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