Religious leaders in the country have expressed deep concern about the increasing threat of small-scale mining in the country.
They believe it is not only affecting the production of food crops but destroying water bodies and the very existence of humanity.
At a meeting with President Akufo-Addo on Tuesday evening, Rev. Professor J.O.Y Mante, Moderator of the Presbyterian Church of Ghana and Chairman of the Christian Council of Ghana, who led the religious leaders said “we have visited some galamsey sites and we have seen some dangerous things that for us cannot even be expressed in textbooks.”
He said “we see that the thing (galamsey) is getting worse.”
“We are here, as spiritual leaders to find out if there is any problem that we don’t know. We would like to know”, he told the President.
The visit of the religious leaders was essentially a follow-up to a press release they issued on the 17th of October 2022, demanding a total ban on small-scale mining in the country to send a strong message to those involved in the menace.
On his part, President Akufo-Addo welcomed concerns raised by the religious leaders on the devastating state of river bodies and forest reserves as a result of illegal small-scale mining (galamsey) in several parts of the country, describing their support for the fight against the phenomenon as apt.
He said the ongoing discourse on the galamsey menace in the country during his term in office demonstrates that the entire nation is poised to eradicate illegal mining in the country.
The religious leaders drawn from the Christian Council of Ghana, Ghana Pentecostal Council, Ghana Charismatic and Pentecostal Council, the Catholic Bishops Conference and the National Muslim Council.
Later after a closed-door meeting, the Minister for Lands and Natural Resources, Samuel Abu Jinapor said the religious leaders expressed satisfaction with the government’s stands on their demands and pledged to support all ongoing efforts of the government aimed at stopping illegal mining in the country.
By Charles Takyi-Boadu, Presidential Correspondent