The devastating unfold of unlawful mining (galamsey) has been basically redefined by means of spiritual and well being mavens, who argue the disaster isn’t simply an financial downside however a profound ethical and non secular failing this is concurrently fuelling a public well being crisis.

The stern review emerged from a digital environmental convention themed Navigating the Challenges of Illegal Mining in Ghana: Impact on Individuals, Communities, Health and Policy, organised by means of IGER Africa on Friday, December 5, 2025.

The Moral & Spiritual Betrayal

Reverend Professor Paul Frimpong-Manso, former President of the Ghana Pentecostal and Charismatic Council (GPCC) and Founder of the Frimpong-Manso Institute, asserted that the destruction of herbal sources for private accomplishment constitutes a sin and a contravention of divine command.

He wired that destroying advent—in particular rivers and forests—for egocentric accomplishment violates the basic command to “until and stay” the earth.

“Ghana must embrace ethical leadership, community responsibility, and spiritual renewal,” the Professor emphasised.

He highlighted the failure of ethical custodians to uphold nationwide values:

“The desire to get rich quickly with minimal effort has taken deep root in the hearts of many. Young people see images of overnight wealth and are tempted to risk their lives in abandoned pits and polluted rivers.”

Professor Frimpong-Manso condemned the complicity of the ones in energy, noting that many that must be custodians of values have transform “beneficiaries of this greed, taking bribes, granting unlawful concessions or turning a blind eye to the wrongdoing.”

The Erosion of Integrity

The Professor traced the roots of the disaster to unchecked greed and selective software of the regulation, which sends a damaging message to society:

“When political actors protect illegal miners, when the law is selectively applied, when those who are supposed to enforce regulation become complicit, the message is loud and clear: wrongdoing is acceptable. So long as it benefits the powerful over time, it erodes trust.”

While acknowledging that poverty in rural spaces makes younger folks liable to the trap of fast money over unsure farming venture building, he insisted that the struggle in opposition to galamsey calls for a cultural shift beginning on the elementary societal unit.

“Government alone cannot solve the galamsey crisis; communities must rise up as ethical citizens and responsible citizens of their environment. Parents and guardians have a crucial role. What values are we teaching our children?”

He argued that if youngsters develop up listening to oldsters reward branding accomplished via doubtful way, they are going to practice that trail. The core message is apparent: the marketing campaign in opposition to galamsey “Must start from the pulpit, classroom, and family altar.”

“The earth is the Lord’s. We must give an account for how we treated the land.”

Health Catastrophe: Mercury Levels 50 Times Safe Limit

Adding a crucial layer of urgency to the ethical disaster, Dr. Charles Sagoe-Moses, a Former WHO Representative in Tanzania and Namibia and a Fellow on the Frimpong-Manso Institute of Ghana, declared that Ghana is confronting a completely preventable public well being crisis pushed by means of unlawful mining.

Dr. Sagoe-Moses offered alarming knowledge relating to mercury contamination:

• Scientific Evidence: Scientific proof confirms that mercury, used closely in artisanal gold processing, contaminates air, soil, and water.
• Extreme Contamination: WHO studies disclose that artisanal gold mining websites show off mercury ranges as much as 50 occasions upper than the protected threshold.
• Local Data: Studies in some Ghanaian mining spaces have discovered mercury contamination in water our bodies to be 20 to 30 occasions above the WHO threshold.

Generational Tragedy

The well being penalties, in step with Dr. Sagoe-Moses, are power and generational:

• Adult Health: Exposure to poisonous metals, particularly mercury and arsenic, ends up in power kidney illnesses, inflicting kidney failure in younger adults and top charges of high blood pressure. Direct mercury poisoning reasons reminiscence loss, tremors, kidney failure, critical fatigue, and muscle weak spot.
• Children and Foetal Health: The tragedy is compounded for pregnant girls and youngsters. Mercury crosses the placenta all over being pregnant and contaminates breast milk. As a consequence, small children face the danger of decreased mind earnings and cerebral palsy, and youngsters broaden finding out difficulties, appearing poorly in faculties.

The discussion board concluded that and not using a unified promotion addressing the core ethical vacuum, the devastating financial and well being toll of galamsey—measured in infected water, destroyed land, and long-term neurological harm—will proceed to escalate.

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DISCLAIMER: The Views, Comments, Opinions, Contributions and Statements made by means of Readers and Contributors in this platform don’t essentially constitute the perspectives or coverage of Multimedia Group Limited.