Pastor recommends ‘shoot to kill’ strategy to curb illegal mining

The General Overseer of Hezekiah Prayer Ministries, Apostle Kwabena Owusu Agyei, has recommended a “shoot to kill” strategy to combat galamsey, also known as illicit mining.

In his opening remarks at a press conference to unveil his forecasts for the 2024 general elections, the controversial man of God indicated that while this method will be extreme, it will help address the menace of galamsey.

According to him, the reason the country has not been able to control galamsey is because the government, its appointees, and other politicians are direct beneficiaries of illegal mining.

Apostle Kwabena Owusu Agyei told journalists on Thursday, December 7, 2023, that the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) and the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) blame each other for the mess they caused.

He said these blame games have existed for years which is why they're still struggling to fight galamsey.

He lamented that galamsey is still on the increase.

He asked why these things take place when laws exist and leaders are being paid to help curb the menace.

"If we are serious and want to deal with galamsey, shoot to kill. Don’t go to this forest because it is a reserve, and so when you go there, they should use the drones to blast them. If we do this once or twice, people will no longer engage in it", he said.

He was also livid that Aisha Huang, the galamsey queen, was jailed for four and a half years and fined GHC48,000.

For him, the jail term handed to the galamsey queen was not enough.