The Chairman for the Church of Pentecost, Ghana, Apostle Eric Nyamekye, has called for a political will and multi-faceted solutions to end mining activities that are devastating arable lands, farms and river bodies.
He spoke to the media after a tour of some mining sites in the Eastern Region by the Christian Ecumenical Bodies in the country.
The tour by the clergy was to observe and have first-hand information on the level of devastation as a result of mining activities.
They sung patriotic songs and prayed at one of the mining sites to ask for God’s forgiveness on behalf of perpetrators destroying the country’s land and river bodies through mining.
Notable among the clergy who visited the sites were the immediate past Chairman of the Christian Council of Ghana, Bishop Dr. Paul Boafo, Presiding Chairman of the Assemblies of God, Rev Dr. Paul Frimpong Manso and Chairman of the Church of Pentecost, Ghana Apostle Eric Nyamekye.
Apostle Nyamekye pointed out that leadership failure results in people taking the law into their own hands like being seen with illegal mining.
“If leaders are not doing what they are supposed to do, then people would take the law into their own hands. So I am calling on our leaders to lead.”
He added: “Somebody must control these young men in the galamsey industry. Somebody would have to educate them and they would stop. But when there is no leadership, then things go wayward.”
Apostle Nyamekye suggested some solutions.
“Some people are not willing. Those people have to be sought for, sit them down and cause them to be willing. [As for] human beings there is nothing we can’t destroy or build.
“Now that we have destroyed this, there is a way for us to build. If we sit down and put our mind to it, we will build. It seems a complex approach to deal with. The approach should be multifaceted,” he strongly believed.
The immediate Past Chairman of the Christian Council of Ghana, Bishop Dr. Paul Boafo, who led the clergy to the mining site, expressed shock at the devastation.
“In Genesis, God said tend it, care for it and in caring for it, this is not the way to care for it and I will say that, this is not the right way to go for wealth and bring to the Church. No.”
Minning activities in all forms have destroyed lands and river bodies questioning government’s efforts and will at fighting to protect the environment.
Goal 15 of the Sustainable Development Goal enjoins government to protect, restore, and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forest, combat desertification and halt and reserve land degradation and halt biodiversity loss by year 2030.
By Yvonne Neequaye|3news.com|Ghana