The Ghana Catholic Bishops’ Conference (GCBC) has issued a strongly worded statement on the destructive impact of illegal mining (galamsey), urging President John Dramani Mahama to immediately declare a state of emergency in the country’s most affected mining zones.
In the statement, signed by Most Rev. Matthew Kwasi Gyamfi, Bishop of Sunyani and President of the Conference, the bishops described galamsey as “a cancer in our national soul” that is ravaging rivers, destroying farmlands, poisoning food chains, corrupting governance, and threatening national security.
Highlighting the dire state of Ghana’s water bodies, they cited rivers including the Pra, Ankobra, Birim, Offin and Ayensu as heavily polluted.
The Ayensu River alone, they revealed, has a turbidity level of 32,000 NTU compared to the Ghana Water Company’s treatment limit of 2,500 NTU, making it nearly impossible to purify for drinking.
The bishops accused some politicians, chiefs, religious leaders and security officers of shielding illegal operators for personal gain, warning that such complicity strikes at the core of Ghana’s moral and national identity.
Despite repeated engagements with President Mahama earlier this year, the Conference said it was alarmed by what it called the President’s failure to appreciate the “existential scale of the menace.” His dismissal of calls for a state of emergency at his September 10 Meet the Press session, they added, was deeply disappointing.
“The hour is late. Delay is betrayal. Now, not tomorrow, not later, is the time to act,” the statement declared.
The GCBC proposed sweeping measures including:
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A state of emergency in devastated mining communities.
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Revision and stricter enforcement of mining laws with harsher penalties.
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Specialised courts for swift prosecutions.
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A permanent, corruption-proof national task force to tackle the menace.
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Alternative livelihood programmes for affected communities.
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Regulated small-scale mining zones.
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A nationwide afforestation campaign to restore destroyed lands.
They stressed that both the powerful and the powerless must be prosecuted if any policy is to succeed.
Finally, the bishops appealed to all Ghanaians to resist the lure of quick wealth and protect the nation’s future.
Source: Adomonline.com
