The Presiding Bishop of the Methodist Church Ghana, Most Reverend Dr. Paul Kwabena Boafo has called on lawyers and judges to take a leading role in combating illegal mining.
He characterised illegal mining [galamsey] as an ecological injustice and urged the judiciary to safeguard Ghana’s ecology from potential harm.
The Most Rev. Dr Boafo, who made the call during a church service in Accra to usher in the 67th Legal Year by the Judiciary, noted that environmental harm in Ghana was not a natural occurrence but a consequence of human actions.
He emphasised that the damage inflicted on Ghana’s forests, rivers, and ecosystems should deeply concern everyone, including the Judiciary.
When we are calling for environmental justice, we are calling for fairness and the best care for the environment that sustains us all…You should be champions of equity, Justice, and fairness,” he told the Judiciary.
The 67th Legal Year is on the theme “Building the Pillars of Justice Delivery through leadership, Innovation and Technology.”
The Most Rev. Dr. Boafo pointed out that individuals in “high places” encouraged and recruited the youth to engage in environmental destruction in their pursuit of gold.
He also recalled that there were numerous cases of illegal mining currently before the courts.