The National Priests and Priestesses Association (NPPA) has announced its intention to stage a large demonstration against illegal mining, also known as ‘galamsey’, in the country. The Association believes that illegal mining is having a negative impact on the lives of Ghanaians and has decided to join the fight to protect Ghana’s environment. In an interview with Captain Smart on Onua TV’s morning show, Maakye, on Tuesday, October 08, 2024, the President of the Association, Nana Kwaku Bonsam, stated that members of the Association plan to cast curses on those involved in galamsey in order to put an end to the practice.
Explaining the precarious nature of the development, the ‘Kofi oo Kofi’ deity priest indicated that some government officials who solicit the support of the fetish priests to engage in illegal mining bypass the chiefs to perform them after the priests decline the invite. He complained that when galamsey activities leave people with strange diseases, they send them back to the same priests who rejected galamsey in the community to cater for them.
“Some of our chiefs and government officials including ministers have been visiting some of the fetish priests in the villages where they mine gold to perform rituals for them to do galamsey. When they refuse, the ministers bypass them and go to the chiefs to perform the rituals and start mining.
“Meanwhile, when the residents get kidney problems, they bring them to the same priests to heal them. So, we’ve realised that if we don’t speak with the gods and curse those behind the galamsey for the gods to kill some of them, there will come a time we’ll have to travel to Ouagadogou to find water to do a naming ceremony for newborn babies,” he lamented.
Despite the numerous failed attempts by the government to curb the menace, Kwaku Bonsam is hopeful that an intervention by the gods will do the magic. “…that’s why we the NPPA have decided to organise a mammoth demonstration and curse those behind the galamsey because pastors have demonstrated, we didn’t get any results, soldiers and police have done their part, we didn’t get anything from it. For the gods, if we do the rituals, we know they’ll work,” he stated.
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