A former Vice Chancellor of Catholic University, Ghana, Brigadier General Prof. Daniel Obeng Ofori, has called on the University Teachers Association of Ghana (UTAG), civil society organisations, and other stakeholders to consider going on strike if the government fails to take decisive action against illegal mining.
Speaking at the 12th Biennial Supreme Subordinate Convention in Kumasi, Prof. Ofori emphasized that persuasion has yielded no results, and drastic measures such as a strike might be necessary to prompt the government to take urgent steps to address the issue.
He urged citizens, including school children, to join in the fight against illegal mining, stressing that the devastation of water bodies and the environment is a serious matter that requires collective action.
“If all the TUC and everybody go on strike, the government will do something. I think that’s what the government understands because now all the persuasion has failed,” he said.
Bishop of Konongo-Mampong Catholic Diocese, Most Rev. John Yaw Opoku-Agyemang, urged the government to take the suggestion from the CSOs meeting on galamsey seriously and applied it to help combat galamsey.
“Most of the people engaged in the galamsey activities are Christians and if all these people have changed their mind and work on God’s will, this cancer will stop,” he said.
Source: Joseph Obeng