As part of his engagements in the region, Mahama met Members of the Western Regional House of Chiefs.
At the meeting, the chiefs and queen mothers could not hold back their frustrations over the lack of development in their communities and the failure of the current government to stop the menace of illegal mining, galamsey.
They appealed to the former president to, among other things, ban the importation of galamsey equipment, including chamfans, if he wins power on December 7, 2024.
“If by God’s grace, you come to power, it looks like God has even done it already, we want you to ban the import of chamfans.
“We are not the ones who take duties when chamfans are imported into the country. It is frustrating when people say chiefs are the ones encouraging galamsey. Are we in charge of the police or the army? We have no power,” one of the paramount chiefs said in Twi.
The Queen Mother of Mpohor could, however, not hold back her tears as she lamented the impact of galamsey and the lack of development in her community.
“We are pleading with you (Mahama), all mothers are crying to you, our water bodies are being destroyed. We don’t get fish from them, we don’t get anything.
“All our roads are not good, all our roads are not good. All the roads at Mpohor are not good. So, I’m pleading with you, remember the Western Region,” she said as tears rolled down her face.
Watch videos from the interactions below:
Source: www.ghanaweb.com
