The Ghana Catholic Bishops Conference (GCBC) has declared its support for efforts by President John Dramani Mahama to arrest the menace of illegal mining (galamsey) in the country.

Reverend Matthew Gyamfi, the GCBC’s President, who is also the Bishop of the Sunyani Diocese, urged the President to declare a limited state of emergency in all the affected zones to suspend all mining activities temporarily, deploy military engineering units for reclamation of degraded mining areas, and restore lawful local governance and other than decentralised oversight.

He said the GCBC was burdened by the devastation of illegal mining, which began as a subsistence activity but had grown into a threat of national proportions.

Rev Gyamfi said this when he led a 20-member Delegation of the GCBC to pay a courtesy call on President Mahama at the Presidency in Accra.

The bishops were at the Presidency to congratulate the President on his massive victory in the December 7, 2024, general election and to present a litany of issues of national concern for his attention, such as the menace of illegal mining, the education reform, governance and electoral reforms.