The Christian Council of Ghana (CCG) has called on the government to strengthen enforcement of laws against illegal mining, known as galamsey, and deploy more security personnel and resources to protect water bodies and farmlands.
The Council’s Chairman, Rev. Enoch Nii Narh Thompson, said addressing the menace required more than public education and dialogue, stressing the need for law enforcement agencies to ensure that existing laws were upheld.
Rev. Thompson, who is also the Executive President of the Ghana Baptist Convention, speaking in an interview on October 20, described illegal mining as an environmental and public health issue that should concern the Church.
He said the pollution of water sources and the destruction of land made the fight against galamsey a matter of public interest and a responsibility the Church could not ignore.
“If the water bodies that the people drink from are polluted, and the soil is poisoned, it is a business of the Church,” he said.
Rev. Thompson disclosed that the Christian Council had held several engagements with the government over illegal mining, including meetings with President John Dramani Mahama.
He urged policymakers and the relevant authorities to commit more personnel and resources to enforcement operations, particularly through increased involvement of the military, police and specialised agencies.
According to him, the government must ensure that the agencies responsible for tackling illegal mining have the capacity to carry out their duties effectively.
“The way forward is for policymakers and implementers to use the resources available to them to tackle the issues head-on. The use of the military, the police and specialised agencies must be increased. More people must be engaged to serve in those areas,” he said.
The Council chairman further stressed that efforts to engage mining communities should be accompanied by strict enforcement of the law, arguing that dialogue alone would not bring the practice to an end.
“Whilst we talk with people, we must also enforce the laws so that the menace could be brought to an end,” he said..