Show serious commitment to galamsey fight - Methodist Bishop to govt

The Methodist Church Ghana has urged the government to show seriousness in the fight against illegal mining, otherwise known as galamsey. 

It said the dimension the galamsey menace had attained was now threatening the country's very existence.

"It is eroding our sovereignty as a nation. People from other countries can easily enter the country and engage in illegal practices with impunity, and we look on helplessly.

Sometimes, some of our own people join them to destroy our God-given resources. I urge the government to do something about it, as a matter of urgency," advised the Bishop of the Northern Accra Diocese (NAD) of the Methodist Church Ghana, Rt Rev. Andrew Mbeah-Baiden.

He said this at the opening of the Seventh Annual Synod of NAD yesterday at the Resurrection Methodist Church, Gbawe in Accra.

The Synod, which started last Wednesday and is expected to end on Sunday, April 27 is on the theme:“Discipleship: Growing into Christian maturity".

The Synod is the highest decision-making body of the Methodist Church Ghana at the Diocesan level, and the advice by the bishop was contained in his address to the Synod.

Commending the government’s initiative of confiscating excavators used in galamsey activities, Rt Rev Mbeah-Baiden said even though it was commendable, the government must go beyond that to stop the excavators from entering the country in the first place.

“Why would you allow the excavators to come into the country in the first place before you go and seize them?

Excavators are not  the size of mobile phones, you can put  in your pocket and illegally take them to those places.

They are huge. They cannot pass without people seeing them.

But why are we allowing them to pass?

“It means that there is no commitment. It's like we're giving it lip service.

And I'm calling on the government and all stakeholders, traditional rulers, churches, monks, all of us to be upstanding to fight this menace,” he charged.

He said pragmatic actions taken by the government could go a long way to halt further destruction of the forests and water bodies, and ultimately restore those resources to their original state for the general benefit of the nation.

Road network

Rt Rev. Mbeah-Baiden further urged the government to improve the road network of the country, pointing out that, they had noticed that over the years the concentration had always been on the main roads even though there were so many alternative roads to places that equally needed to be improved to make them accessible to motorists.

He said if those alternative roads were improved they would ease the pressure on the main roads and make travelling across the country a bit more comfortable.