Founder and head pastor of Perez Chapel, Archbishop Charles Agyinasare has lamented the negative impact of illegal mining, popularly known as galamsey.
According to him, Ghana is currently mourning due to the destructive practices of galamsey.
Delivering a sermon on Sunday, September 8, 2024 titled: ‘Restoring Our Land: A Call Against Galamsey,’ the respected man of God noted that “Galamsey is an issue that threatens our environment, our health, and our future”.
“It is a pressing issue that is affecting our beloved nation,” thus, “As a preacher, I must be concerned with what is happening around me,” just as the Apostle Paul did in his day, according to Acts 17:23 NKJV: “For as I was passing through and considering the objects of your worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: To the unknown god. Therefore, the one whom you worship without knowing, Him I proclaim to you”.
He told the congregation that illegal miners use methods such as panning (washing soil and gravel in water to separate gold particles), sluicing (using water to wash away soil and concentrate minerals in a trough) and using mercury to amalgamate gold.
Making reference to Genesis 2:8, 15 NKJV, Archbishop Agyinasare said, “The Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden, and there He put the man whom He had formed. Then the Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to tend and keep it”.
He also quoted Psalm 104 in describing the beauty of God’s creation.
He said caring for the environment, is “a sacred responsibility that each of us bears as followers of Christ: the stewardship of God’s creation. From the majestic mountains to the tiniest creatures, all of creation is a testament to God’s glory and love.”
He said in the book of Proverbs 12:10 (NIV), humankind is reminded: “The righteous care for the needs of their animals, but the kindest acts of the wicked are cruel”.
“This verse highlights the importance of stewardship over God’s creation, which is being compromised by these illegal activities,” Dr Agyinasare observed, as he screened to the congregation, videos of fish suffocating in water bodies devastated by galamsey.
According to him galamsey, “is prevalent in several regions across Ghana, particularly in the Ashanti, Western, and Eastern regions. Amazingly when I went up north, I discovered that it started happening in the North, too.”
He also used videos to explain the menace of illegal mining to the congregants.
“Before galamsey devastated these rivers, the Pra, for instance, was so clear that one could easily fetch from it to drink but that is not the situation anymore,” he said while showing the videos to the members of the church .
He added that instead of “filling the earth and subduing it,” as God commanded man to do in Genesis 1:28 (NIV), humankind is rather destroying it. “We are called to be caretakers of the earth, yet galamsey leads to the degradation of our lands and water bodies, contradicting this divine mandate.”
“Many individuals turn to illegal mining as a means of survival,” he said.
He noted that the “insatiable desire for wealth drives many to engage in destructive practices, often at the expense of their communities and the environment,” as written in Ecclesiastes 5:9-10 NKJV: “Moreover the profit of the land is for all; even the king is served from the field. He who loves silver will not be satisfied with silver; nor he who loves abundance, with increase. This also is vanity.”
Archbishop Agyinasare, however, was quick to point out that: “Mining is not bad,” noting: “There are people who are not illegal miners. They are given licences to mine. We must encourage such, but the illegal mining, we must stop”.
He cited corruption and lack of political will as critical drivers of galamsey, too, saying: “Without strong enforcement mechanisms, illegal miners operate with impunity”.