Methodist Church throws caution on towing levy, galamsey fight

The Kumasi Diocese of the Methodist Church-Ghana has admonished the government to hasten slowly in the implementation of the national towing Levy.

The Church believes the majority of the citizenry has yet to better appreciate the import of the levy, hence the need for wider consultations among stakeholders.

“We want to take this opportunity to advise the government to slow down or hold on with the implementation of the policy and embark on a nationwide dialogue with the various stakeholders,” said Rt Rev Christopher Nyarko Andam, the Methodist Bishop of Kumasi.

He pleaded with Parliament and stakeholders “to avoid presenting a policy that would seemingly be seen as an imposition on the citizenry against the will of the people”.

The Bishop was addressing a press conference on the Church’s 2017 Annual Prophetic and Healing Convention, which seeks to building spiritual strength of members and provides a platform for the church to educate members on some national issues.

The event challenges the citizenry to rise up to their civic responsibilities and encourages them to contribute their quota towards national growth.

Rt. Rev. Andam expressed the Church’s satisfaction on the firm approach taken by the government in the fight against illegal mining and protection of the environment and water bodies.

“We are, however, calling on the appropriate ministries to properly monitor the 400 military and police taskforce sent out to guard the various galamsey sites to ensure that they would stay within their assigned mandate to achieving the needed objectives for the country,” said he said.

The operations of the taskforce have already recorded one death from a gunshot around Obuasi in the Ashanti Region.

The Bishop described the incident as unfortunate and should not be repeated.

“We also call on government for the continuous engagement with the Small Scale Miners Association for proper regulations of their activities, so that they would not be barred totally from doing their work that bring them some income to see to their family needs,” he added.