The Christian Council of Ghana has pledged support to the government’s efforts to combat illegal mining.

Reverend Dr Hilliard Dela Dogbe, the Chairman of the Christian Council of Ghana, reiterated that illegal mining was worrying.

“We want to appeal to you strongly that you should do all within your power to make sure that we see the end of this disaster,” Rev Dr Dogbe stated during the Council’s courtesy call on President John Dramani Mahama at the Presidency in Accra.

Rev Dr Dogbe congratulated President Mahama on his victory in the December 7, 2024 general election and assured him of the Council’s support for his Administration.

“One of our greatest, should I say, assets as a Christian body is prayer. So we want to assure you of our prayer support and also of our physical support in whatever way we can,” he stated

He said the Council wanted the President to consider the threat of illegal mining seriously.

“It’s very worrying. It’s very, very worrying. Yes, it is true that we also recognize that most of these people who are involved in this are also members of our churches,” he said.

“So, we also have a responsibility to educate them to the best of our interest. But we also need the people who have the political power, who have the authority to wield that power in the best interest of helping to curb it.

“We can speak to the moral conscience of the people. They can choose to listen. They can choose not to listen. But beyond the moral conscience, we appeal to, you (President Mahama) have the authority to say no. If you do it, these are the consequences. And once you strike that strongly, I’m sure it will go across.”

Rev Dr Dogbe said over the past two years, the Council had been holding the ethical leadership conferences.

He said the conferences focus was to empower people for leadership and to uphold ethical standards.

He said with good leadership, most of the nation’s problems would be solved.

“As we move on, we will be appealing to you for your support and involvement and participation in some of these conferences,” he stated.

“We want to give you those assurances and we are trusting that this collaboration will go on and we can work together for the greater interest of the people of our beloved country.”

President Mahama reiterated the Government’s commitment to addressing the galamsey menace in the country.

He said he had instructed the anti-galamsey task force not to burn but rather confiscate excavators used in illegal mining (galamsey) within the nation’s forest reserves.

He said the anti-galemsey task force had done one operation in the Tano Nimri Forest Reserve, during, which they were able to get some excavators and other things out of the Reserve and that they would soon be moving into another Reserve.

He said a mobile team was on the ground to draw the attention of the anti-galamsey task force to any illegal mining activities in the nation’s forest reserves.