Kumasi churches back moves to end galamsey
Heads of Churches and Para Churches Organisation in the Ashanti Region have pledged their unflinching support to the decisive move by the government and other stakeholders to ensure that all mining activities are ceased to preserve the environment.
Advertisement
“We are stewards of the environment and we shall give an account of our stewardship to God. We can also not tolerate the selfish ambitions of some individuals and groups destroying what we all own together,” they said and quoted Genesis 1:26-28 of the Bible to buttress their stance.
Addressing a press conference in Kumasi, the spokesperson for the group, the Rt. Rev Professor Osei Sarfo Kantanka, encouraged the government to push the agenda to its logical conclusion and not be cowed by any threats of loss of votes.
Stewards
He said it was incumbent on the church to step up and join the move to stop the destructive nature of the miners because as per the 2000 Population and Housing Census, about 70 per cent of Ghanaians professed to be Christians.
He stated that the church had become alarmed because the illegal mining activities had led to the destruction of hectares of vegetative cover, alteration of landscapes, irreparable damage to water bodies, such as Offin, Pra, Birim, Ankobra and even whole villages.
Rt. Rev Professor Kantanka added that the activities of those illegal miners had also culminated in the hike of both the number of deaths, which hovered around 400 per annum, and the use of chemicals, including mercury which resulted in grievous health implications.
Christian
He urged Christians to be minded by texts in James 4:17 which warned that “Anyone who knows the good he ought to do and does not do it, sins” and called on all Christians involved in any form of galamsey or benefitted directly by selling farm lands to earn a living to understand that what they were doing was unacceptable to God.
He also enjoined pastors to step up their teachings for their members to be responsible towards the environment, equally reminding them of injunctions stated in Hosea 4:6 that “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge” adding that such a destruction could only happen if church leaders neglected their duty to teach God’s people.
People in authority
Rt Rev. Professor Kantanka stated that various allegations had been levelled in the past against traditional leaders, security forces, political leaders, ministries, department and agencies and pleaded with members of all these groups to refrain from using the authority vested in them to destroy the environment but help protect and preserve it for future generations.
Government
He commended President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo and his government for “the decisive action so far taken to arrest the situation” and encouraged the government to put in place arrangements that would lead to the wise and safe extraction of gold and other resources.”
Professor Kantanka encouraged the government to find ways of handling the “Chinese aspects of the menace diplomatically to avoid retaliatory actions.
He also admonished the government to provide alternative means of employment for those involved in illegal mining.