AFRICA/GHANA - The Bishops: "No to donations that are the fruit of illegal mining activities"

Accra (Agenzia Fides) - The Bishops' Conference of Ghana will not accept donations from illegal mining activities. This was decided by the bishops at the end of their Plenary Assembly. "We will not accept any donations that are the fruit of illegal mining," said the President of the Ghanaian Bishops' Conference and Bishop of Sunyani, Matthew Kwasi Gyamfi, announcing a measure that recalls the recent decision of the Kenyan bishops not to accept the donations of the Kenyan Head of State (see Fides, 19/11/2024).
Bishop Gyamfi also announced sanctions against those involved in illegal mining of minerals (especially gold), the so-called "galamsey", which causes very serious damage to the environment and the population. "The sanctions will be further tightened, to the point that we can even deny Holy Communion if, despite warnings, one openly participates in illegal mining of minerals and continues this dangerous activity," warned Bishop Gyamfi.
In this context, the President of the Bishops' Conference also appealed to the population to report illegal mining activities and to take responsibility for protecting natural resources. "The people should take it into their own hands to protect their land and should not allow somebody from somewhere to come and destroy their water," said Bishop Gyamfi. At the same time, he reminded that local communities themselves bear responsibility for what happens on their land. "Is it the government that is polluting the water? It is even some of us in the local communities who are doing this galamsey. Then we say the government should come and save us from ourselves. No, that is not possible.” The Ghanaian Bishops' Conference has long been a leading voice in denouncing the environmental damage and human costs of illegal mining (see Fides, 16/11/2022 and 8/5/2024). In October, the Archdiocese of Accra, in collaboration with the Conference of Religious Superiors of Ghana (CMSR-GH), hosted the "Environmental Prayer Walk", which ended with the delivery of a petition to the Presidential Palace calling for concrete measures to stop illegal mining (see Fides, 9/10/2024 and 14/10/2024). (L.M.) (Agenzia Fides, 21/11/2024)

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