The Founder and Leader of the Gospel Revival Church of Christ in Kumasi, Rev. Bishop J.N.K. Boateng, has added his voice to the crusade against galamsey, with a call on the government to ban all licensed small scale mining in Ghana.
The church leader explained that eh banning order was necessary, because small scale miners do not cover up their pits after mining, thus endangering the environment.
"This defiant attitude must be stopped with a total ban on small scale mining," the Kumasi-based man of God suggested.
Bishop Boateng observed on Easter Sunday during the 40th Anniversary of the Gospel Revival Church of Christ in Kumasi, that illegal miners are selfish and mischievous, and always want to be rich at the expense of the masses, which, he said, is evil.
The Bishop stressed that galamsey is 'wrecking' Ghana apart, hence the illegal miners must be stopped in their tracks.
Quoting Romans 13:1, he reminded President Akufo-Addo that there was no good in evil deeds, and as a leader of this Republic, Ghanaian are looking up to him to steer the affairs of the nation int eh right direction.
Recounting how he was manhandled by the police in 1986, when he kicked against illegal mining in the Amansie West district, Rev. Boateng charged: "Do whatever you can to stop galamsey, because it is destroying Ghana, regardless of what it takes. It is evil, and should not be entertained. It is evil, and should not be entertained. It is criminal."
Responding to a question that thousands of people will be unemployed should galamsey be stopped in Ghana, Bishop Boateng asked: "Is mining the only employment in the world?"
On pollution and drying up of water bodies, the Clergyman noted that the Bonte stream in the Amansie West district that served as a tributary to Offin and Detwe is dead, owing to illegal mining activities, without any benefits to the surrounding communities and Ghanaians.
"What is the gold that was extracted from the rivers, and what did they use it for? he quarried.
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