Selected members of the clergy have stepped up their support for the government’s fight against the illegal small-scale mining, galamsey, menace.

Dozens of these Christian religious leaders took a tour of some galamsey sites in the Eastern region to assess the level of damage and to pray for divine intervention on the issue.

The area was heavily forested and they were accompanied by some security officials. Some of the shots show what appears to be abandoned excavators and other mining machinery.

In a video shared by Accra-based UTV, titled: “Christian Ecumenical Bodies in Ghana tour some 'galamsey' sites in Eastern Region,” the leaders are seen at the site singing patriotic songs, including the infamous ‘Yen Ara Asaase Ni’ and other patriotic songs.

They are later seen offering prayers.

“We pray that our people will humble themselves and change from our wicked ways… heal our land and save us, heal our nation,” the pastor leading the prayer is heard saying. Watch the video below:

Background

Galamsey has become topical in recent months with the resurgence of news on its continued negative impact on the environment.

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo at a recent meeting with the National House of Chiefs and selected Metropolitan, Municipal and District Chief Executives, MMDCEs, restated his resolve to root out the canker.

The issue has also been given impetus following the rearrest last month of a notorious galamsey kingpin in the person of Aisha Huang.

The Chinese national who had as of 2018 been repatriated from Ghana after the state discontinued a criminal trial against her for galamsey, reentered the country on the blind side of the authorities.

SARA/PEN