The Methodist Bishop of Kumasi, Rt. Rev. Osei Safo-Kantanka has expressed grave concern about the spate of illegal mining, popularly called ‘galamsey’ in the country by Chinese nationals.

He said that the environment and water bodies were being destroyed at an alarming rate by foreigners in search of precious minerals.

Rt. Rev. Safo-Kantanka opined that authorized state agencies were not functioning well and this had contributed to the invasion of small-scale mining by foreigners.

According to him, the problems could be addressed effectively if the authorized agencies gain the requisite knowledge.

He revealed this while speaking at this year’s 52nd Synod of the Methodist church at Tepa in the Ashanti region.

He also spoke on the contribution of Caleb to the success of Joshua, one of Israel’s greatest leaders in the Bible.

Rt. Rev. Safo-Kantanka charged the people to upgrade their knowledge in all fields of endeavour.

The acquisition of knowledge by the people, he said, would enable them, particularly the youth, to address appropriately the socio-economic challenges.

The Methodist Bishop also tasked government to invest more in the human resource base of the country, insisting that it was the surest way to tackle the challenges that confront the country.

‘You can only develop the country by investing in your human resources and also by institutionalizing long-term proactive economic measures,’ Rt. Rev. Safo-Kantanka emphasized.

Touching on other pressing national issues, the Methodist Bishop blamed the current socio-economic challenges on President John Dramani Mahama.

According to him, the inaction of the country’s past leaders had resulted in the myriad of challenges.

He bemoaned the fact that Ghana’s past leaders failed woefully to improve the economic foundation built by the country’s first President Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah.

The Methodist Bishop observed that while some leaders experimented with Coup d’états, other ex-presidents squandered the country’s resources through profligate spending.

He noted that “the country can only succeed when its citizens offer concrete and positive support to its leaders as Caleb, the Israelite offered to Joshua, the leader of Israel.”

“The problems we have now as a country cannot be blamed on only President Mahama but the inaction of our generational leaders and the only way we can tackle the problems is to collectively develop our human resource base to respond to our challenges,” he said.

David Addai Amankwah, District Chief Executive for the Ahafo-Ano North, commended the church for always providing decisive leaders to shape the conscience of the people.

Hon. Kwasi Adusei, MP Ahafo Ano North, called on the church to take centre stage in shaping the minds of the people, stressing that the church is the best place for the people to learn the art of servant-leadership.