The Ghana Catholic Bishops Conference (GCBC) has declared its support for efforts by President John Dramani Mahama to arrest the menace of illegal mining (galamsey) in the country.
Reverend Matthew Gyamfi, the GCBC’s President, who is also the Bishop of the Sunyani Diocese, urged the President to declare a limited state of emergency in all the affected zones to suspend all mining activities temporarily, deploy military engineering units for reclamation of degraded mining areas, and restore lawful local governance and other than decentralised oversight.
He said the GCBC was burdened by the devastation of illegal mining, which began as a subsistence activity but had grown into a threat of national proportions.
Rev. Gyamfi said this when he led a 20-member delegation of the GCBC to pay a courtesy call on President Mahama at the Presidency in Accra.
The bishops were at the Presidency to congratulate the President on his massive victory in the December 7, 2024, general election and to present a litany of issues of national concern for his attention, such as the menace of illegal mining, the education reform, governance, and electoral reforms.
Rev. Gyamfi said recent data indicates that over 4,000 hectares of the nation’s forest cover had been lost in just the past two years.
He said the nation’s rivers, such as Prah, Offin, and Ankobrah, had become bywords for environmental collapse due to the activities of illegal miners.
“Now, this ecological damage is grave, but the socio-moral disintegration it breeds is just as perilous. We believe we must act now and immediately, not only with force, but with foresight,” Rev Gyamfi said.
“Enforcement, we believe, must be balanced by credible and sustainable alternatives for those driven by desperation.”
He said, however, the paltry economic gains from Galamsey pale in comparison to the devastating and irreparable damage that Galamsey does to the nation’s environment, economy, and to the esteem of Ghanaians as a people.
Touching on measures to address the menace of illegal mining, Rev Gyamfi advocated for the repeal of permissive legal instruments, audit and repeal legislative instruments enabling unchecked licensing under the Minerals and Mining Act 2006, Act 703, and associated legislative instruments.
A declaration of moratorium on licenses and an immediate freeze on new artisanal and small-scale mining licenses until a full review of environmental and social impact was completed.
“We believe there should be a targeted state of emergency,” Rev Gyamfi said.
He called for the establishment of district-level mining task forces with civil society and church observers to monitor local operations, report breaches, and ensure community participation.
He also suggested conducting independent, publicly available audits of environmental impact, social benefit metrics, and legal compliance of all current mining concessions.
He also advocated for enforcing mandatory reclamation bonds and establishing an independent environmental restoration fund co-governed by state, church, and traditional authorities.
Rev Gyamfi called for funding vocational training, agroforestry, aquaculture, and ecotourism in affected regions using part of the Minerals Development Fund.
He suggested further that the government implement a national blockchain-based system for tracking gold and minerals from source to export to curb smuggling, ensure legal compliance, and recover lost revenues.
Rev Gyamfi said: “Your Excellency, we, the Ghana Catholic Bishops’ Conference, are ready, ever ready, to be with you.
“And we believe, if we’re able to salvage Ghana from galamsey, it probably might be the biggest legacy any government president might have done for Ghana.”
On his part, President Mahama assured the Catholic bishops of the government’s commitment to combating the menace of galamsey in the country.
He said the government had made significant progress in reclaiming forest reserves, which had been infiltrated by illegal miners.
Source: GNA
