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Fight against illegal mining: FGCL quotes Jeremiah 2: 7-9 to condemn galamsey
Rt. Rev. Godwin Dela Fiagome
(President – FGCI)
The leadership and members of the Full Gospel Church International have condemned the spate of environmental degradation in the country by illegal miners known in the local parlance as “Galamsey”.
At the 21st Session of the General Council meeting which ended on Saturday, October 22, 2022, at Tema in the Greater Accra Region, the church members collectively condemned illegal mining (galamsey) and its devastating effects on land, water bodies and livelihood.
Rt Rev. Godwin DelaFiagome, President of FGCT Quoting Jeremiah 2:7-9 to buttress the stance of the church in the fight against the wanton destruction of the environment said “I brought you into a bountiful country, to eat its fruit and its goodness. But when you entered, you defiled my land and made my heritage an abomination. The priests did not say, “Where is the Lord?” And those who handle the law did not know Me: The rulers also transgressed against Me: The Prophets prophesied by Baal, and walked after things that do not profit. “Therefore, I will yet bring charges against you,” says the LORD,” And against your children’s children.
“The Galamsey menace has been topical over the years, and we insist that it is a multiple-stakeholder-caused albatross the nation has been grappling with. It has now hit a crescendo, and urgent multiple-stakeholder-solutions are needed to overturn the already derailed negative environmental consequences and associated degenerated livelihood of both present and future Ghanaians. Various organs of State, Ghanaians and the Church have failed to hold in high esteem, our heritage won for us by letting the Galamsey menace ravage our land, water bodies and livelihoods”.
“ It is sad that our nation is reeling under the after-effects of this menace” he said
The man of God said thatGhana, pacesetter in the West African sub-region and beyond on national development, sovereignty and socioeconomic living had become a pale shadow of itself. Stressing that the once-blessed land was now defiled with illegal mining of our mineral resources which is buried underneath the land for which God gifted us for our collective prosperity.
“Our arable land is gifted to produce fruits and goodness to citizens, but has unfortunately become an abomination in the sight of the Creator because the machines and chemicals have defiled and made it unproductive. The chemicals have dripped into our water bodies over time, making them dangerous to human and animal lives.
“How did we get here?From the Executive to Legislature, the Judiciary, the Security agencies and the Pulpit to the ordinary Ghanaian, we have sold our birthright in the galamsey debacle, and we must be ready to undo the negative long-term effects going forward”he said
The General Council has resolved that the Church must continue to be the hope of the nation by the powerful weapons of the love and mercies of God, but God is also just (Psalm 89:14), and Pulpits across the country must sound alarm of the justice of God against all those who continue to defile the land of Ghana, making it an abomination.
In the words of Apostle Eric Nyamekye, Chairman of the Church of Pentecost and Guest Speaker at the Opening Service of the General Council on Friday, 21st October, 2022, “the Church owes no one an apology to pray over the defiled land and abominable heritage because that is our major contribution to the problem as a key stakeholder. ”
He said that “If truly those who handle the law in this country know the Lord, we would not be in our current predicament”.
“ God is a righteous judge, and we wish to caution those engaged in the galamsey menace to halt operations because God’s hand of judgement is already stretched against perpetrators of the evil unless they repent. We advise that they consider joining the Small Scale Miners Association to be regulated.
“ we extend a clarion call to government to take immediate steps to engage
stakeholder in charting a new path of progress in the fight against galamsey”.
By Castro Zangina-Tong
President John Dramani Mahama has commissioned four career diplomats as ambassador-designates to represent Ghana in four countries.
The commissioning ceremony took place on Friday, October 16, 2026.
The new envoys are Her Excellency Nana Antwiwaa Dodoo, Ambassador-Designate to Angola; His Excellency Louis Kwame Obeng, Ambassador-Designate to Qatar; Her Excellency Evelyn Korantemaa Ofosu-Amable, Ambassador-Designate to Israel; and His Excellency Jedidiah Reuben Adogla, Permanent Representative-Designate to Switzerland.
President Mahama charged them to advance Ghana’s national interests through strategic partnerships, economic diplomacy, investment mobilization, and expanded access to international markets.
He said Ghana’s diplomatic engagements must deliver tangible economic benefits, create jobs, and strengthen the country’s standing on the international stage.
The four envoys are career diplomats with over 27 years of experience.
On behalf of her colleagues, Her Excellency Nana Antwiwaa Dodoo thanked the President for the confidence reposed in them and pledged their commitment to emulate his leadership and deliver on the mandate given to them.
By Edem Mensah-Tsotorme
The professor who spends his days exploring the intricacies of African languages found himself at the centre of a different kind of lesson on Friday, October 2, 2026. 
This time, there were no lecture notes, academic arguments or university classrooms. Instead, there was the weight of tradition, the rhythm of a community celebration and the solemnity of an oath at a royal palace.
Professor Ọbádélé Kambon, a full Professor of African Linguistics at the University of Ghana, was enstooled as Apagyahene and Sunsum Ɔsahene of Akuapem Mampong in the Eastern Region in a ceremony that brought academia and traditional authority together.
For the professor, the occasion was more than a new title. It was a moment that connected his academic interests in African languages and indigenous knowledge with the living traditions of an Akan community.
The day’s events unfolded through a series of customary observances. Kambon was first taken to the compounds of the Ɔkyeamehene and Gyasehene, where the preparations for his installation continued.
Then came the application of hyire, the white kaolin powder associated with traditional rites.
With the customary proceedings underway, the new chief was lifted onto the shoulders of celebrants and carried along the main thoroughfare of Akuapem Mampong.
The procession transformed the streets into a public stage for a ceremony rooted in the community’s traditional institutions.
There was something striking about the image, a university professor, accustomed to the measured language of academic discourse, being carried through the town in a display of traditional recognition.
Yet the celebration was not complete with the procession.
A ram was sacrificed at the Mamponghene’s compound before Kambon was taken to the palace, to swear the oath associated with his new offices.
The ceremony brought him formally into his roles as Apagyahene and Sunsum Ɔsahene.
Beyond the colourful proceedings, the titles themselves carry layers of historical meaning.
Kambon in his research explores the historical connections between Apagya and Akan political and military organisation.
Accounts cited in his work linked Apagya to an asafo, or military company, while historical writing traces an Apagya stool in Asante to the reign of Opoku Ware I in the eighteenth century.
These historical associations offer a glimpse into the institutions that have shaped Akan society over generations, although they do not automatically define the precise responsibilities of the office in Akuapem Mampong.
Kambon’s own professional life reflects a similar interest in preserving and examining African knowledge.
His work encompasses Akan language structure, naming practices across the Black world, proverbs and indigenous intellectual traditions.
Through Abibitumi, the platform he founded, he also promotes language learning, scholarship and cultural engagement.
But tradition was only one part of the story that day.
When the formal ceremony gave way to a reception, the occasion expanded into a celebration of three milestones: Kambon’s enstoolment, his promotion to full professor and his daughter Ama’s admission to the University of Ghana.
The gathering therefore carried a personal significance that went beyond the honours bestowed on one man. 
It celebrated professional advancement, the continuation of family aspirations and a connection to cultural heritage.
For a father, seeing a daughter gain admission to the same university where he holds a distinguished academic position offered another reason to celebrate.
For the professor, the moment placed family achievement alongside his own professional and traditional milestones.
Kambon had already established a place in the traditional life of Akuapem Mampɔn through an earlier installation as Banmuhene Kyidɔmhene, recorded in 2017.
His latest enstoolment adds another chapter to that relationship.
In Akuapem Mampɔn, the day brought together the university, the palace and the family table in one celebration. And for Kambon, the journey from the lecture room to the traditional procession showed how scholarship, cultural responsibility and family achievement could converge in a single memorable occasion.
By Enoch Ntiamoah Siaw
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