A prominent Ghanaian clergyman and Vatican official Peter Appiah Turkson has raised alarm about the government’s failure to tackle illegal mining, commonly referred to as galamsey.
Cardinal Turkson warned that the destruction by galamsey is not only affecting Ghana’s forests and water bodies but also threatening the country’s economic future.
He cautioned that Ghana is straying from the visionary leadership exemplified by its first president, Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, emphasizing the urgent need for effective action to protect the nation’s resources and integrity.
He added that if illegal mining persists, the country risks slipping toward the brink of failure.
“If the status quo remains, we’ll get to a stage, to put it bluntly, of a failed state. Because, I mean, we’ve depended on cocoa production. We are basically an economy that was based on mining and agriculture,” he said.
He criticised the current mining practices, which not only extract minerals but also destroy surface vegetation, deplete topsoil, and leave behind dangerous open pits.
“Kwame Nkrumah, in his wisdom, asked miners to go down and get the minerals while leaving the surface farming, so we could feed ourselves. That wisdom has been lost. We’re not going down to get the minerals, and we’re not preserving the surface. We are taking the vegetation, removing the topsoil, and leaving potholes. His vision, according to me, was far more correct than the present or whatever,” he said.
Cardinal Turkson emphasized that the environmental degradation caused by galamsey will have significant long-term consequences, particularly in the context of climate change.
He warned that ongoing deforestation and soil erosion will severely impact food production, leading to increased economic instability.
The effects of these destructive practices could undermine the livelihoods of many and jeopardize the country’s future.
“If we continue this way, we’ll lose our vegetation, which is something we cannot afford. We lose our topsoil, and food production becomes an issue,” he said.