Catholic Bishops in Ghana Decry Loss of Thousands of Hectares of Land to Illegal Mining, Call for Action

The recommendations include repealing permissive legal instruments, imposing a moratorium on new licenses, establishing a targeted state of emergency, creating an environmental reclamation fund, and implementing digital mineral traceability.

Bishop Kwasi urged the Ghanaian government to audit and repeal the laws that allow illegal mining and to freeze licenses of new artisans and small-scale miners until a review of environmental and social impacts is fully completed.

On recommendations regarding the targeted state of emergency, the Local Ordinary of Sunyani called on the Ghanaian government to declare a limited state of emergency in most affected areas to suspend mining activities, deploy military engineers for land restoration, and restore local governance with decentralized oversight.

He also encouraged collaboration with the church and the district-level mining task force to eco-mining audits, monitoring, and reporting of those who commit breaches.

The Catholic Bishop urged the Ghanaian government to enforce mandatory reclamation bonds and establish an independent environmental restoration fund co-governed by state, church, and traditional Authorities.

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He emphasized the need for the Ghanaian government to use part of the mineral development fund to empower communities affected by illegal mining through vocational training programs.

On digital mineral traceability, the government of Ghana should implement a national block chain-based system for tracking all minerals from the sources of exports to prevent smuggling and ensure proper accountability, the Catholic Bishop said.

In the meeting that had President Mahama in attendance alongside other government officials as well as representatives of Ghana’s Catholic Bishops, Bishop Kwasi also raised concerns regarding electoral violence, national unity, and declining public trust in the country.   

He highlighted the decrease in electoral participation, which fell from 85 percent in 2016 to 60.9 percent in 2024, that he said indicates a growing sense of disengagement among the electorate, especially the youth.

“The reduced turnout reflects broader concerns about the efficacy of democratic processes in addressing pressing national issues,” he said, noting that many young Ghanaians remain dissatisfied with politics as a “vehicle for real change.”

“The perception that politics is transactional and exclusive must be confronted. We must make democracy work, not just periodically at the polls, but persistently through policy, equity, and inclusion,” Bishop Kwasi added.

He pointed out some of the national unity challenges Ghana is facing, including intensified political polarization, deepening mistrust between ethnic, regional, and partisan lines. He said that land disputes, chieftaincy conflicts, and vigilantism persist in flashpoint areas.

The Catholic Church leader went on to condemn the persistent electoral violence that has marked the electoral process in previous general and by-elections from 1992 to 2024, despite the peaceful transition of power from one government to another.

According to the Centre for Democratic Development in Ghana (CDD-Ghana), there were 76 recorded incidents leading up to the 2024 general election, including 24 cases of destruction, vandalism, and invasion of public facilities, as well as several injuries and six fatalities.

Bishop Kwasi recommended that the Ghanaian government works on economic equality and electoral integrity to prevent future incidences of electoral violence in the country.

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The Catholic Church leader called on the Ghanaian government to collaborate with the Church in ensuring civic education and engagement.

“By reinforcing the values of participatory governance and accountability, we can work towards revitalizing public trust and ensuring that democracy serves the prosperity of all Ghanaians,” he said, and added, “Let us build a politics that serves not itself, but the people; a politics that is not about the survival of the fittest, but about the flourishing of the weakest; a politics where governance is not performance, but a moral vocation.”

Sabrine Amboka is a Kenyan journalist with a passion for Catholic church communication. She holds a bachelor’s degree in mass communication from St. Paul's University in Kenya.