The founder and leader of Divine Word Ministries International, Bishop Adonteng Boateng, has charged members of the Christian leadership to play a key role in the fight against the menace of illegal small-scale mining (galamsey). Speaking in an interview with Oman Channel, which was monitored by GhanaWeb, the American-based preacher said that members of the clergy need to adopt a concerted approach in fighting galamsey and pushing for better policies from the government instead of resorting to fasting and prayers. “If pastors want us to fight galamsey then we must begin to weaponize the congregation. What I mean by weaponizing the congregation is that the pastors who went to pray at the river bank may be about 50 or 100 and if you add their members together, they will be about 2 million. "If a Christian Council can hold about 3 million people as their congregation who are ready to obey their directions, the politicians will fear them. “So, when a politician realises that they (Christian Council) are against something they are doing, they will stop it because it will come against them when it is election time,” he stated in reaction to a video of a Christian Council delegation's visit to a galamsey site on a fact-finding mission weeks back. Speaking further on his call, Bishop Adonteng Boateng noted that the clergy by weaponizing their congregation will have an influence in pushing for policies that inure to the collective good of citizens in the country. “So, I feel the church must begin to weaponize our congregation; that people who come and implement policies that we are not happy about, we can use our congregation to have a better country and have better policies that will help. But we can’t stop galamsey with prayers and fasting,” he emphasised. Several water bodies are currently under threat from the effects of illegal mining activities. This has led to various public calls on the government to take drastic measures in fighting the menace. Meanwhile, the Christian Council declared a National Week of Fasting and Prayers Against Galamsey, taking place between Monday, October 24, 2022, to Sunday, October 30, 2022. In a release dated Monday, October 17, 2022, the council said: “For many years now, our sovereign country Ghana has been witnessing under our very naked eyes, the saddest "environmental coup d'éta" ever unleashed upon our nation, heralding a programmed and complete "ecological disaster" or destruction. “We are calling for a week of fasting and prayers to pray for change of heart and for God's mercy upon our nation for the destruction we have caused the environment 2. We call for the IMMEDIATE BAN of all small-scale mining,” it added. Watch the interview below: You can also watch this episode of People & Places on GhanaWeb TV: IB/SARA